The Path to Love
by queenybee
Summary: During the 1st Obon festival in New Macross, Lisa is reunited with an old friend who makes her question her choices in life.
1. Chapter 1

"Did you hear?" squealed Sammie as she entered the bridge. "There's going to be a festival in New Macross in a few weeks."

"Ooo, what kind of festival," said Vanessa as she monitored her radar.

"I'm not sure, what kinda, I just heard about it from the assistant in the mayor's office. All she said was that it was going to be held in the Japantown area."

Lisa perked up when she heard what Sammie and Vanessa was talking about. "Are you sure Sammie?" asked Lisa. Vanessa and Sammie looked at each other, usually Lisa just ignored whatever the two of them gossiped about. Sammie smiled, happy to see Lisa participating in the discussion and not her usual stern self. "Yes, she said it was going to be in mid July and that we would need to dress up, but I wasn't sure what kinda dress she meant," said Sammie.

"Ah! Did she say it was a Bon festival or Obon festival?" questioned Lisa.

"Oh you're right she did! How did you know Lisa? Did you already hear about the festival?" asked Sammie.

"No, it's just that would be the right time for that type of festival, it's a Japanese festival to honor one's ancestors," said Lisa. "Even though the festival sounds somber, they are quite fun, lots of food to eat, games to play, dancing and usually a fireworks show at the end."

"Sounds like so much fun Lisa, we should all go together." said Vanessa and Sammy. Lisa smiled, "I think that is a great idea girls, and I am sure Claudia and Kim would want to go as well." The women spent of the rest of the day monitoring their stations and planning their outing to the festival. The spirits on the bridge of the SFD-2 were high that day as they bridge team looked forward to the festival to give them a break from the constant work and duty that the constant reconstruction called for.

The next week, the girls asked Lisa to join them for a shopping spree. "We are going to see if we can get one of those yukatas you mentioned Lisa after work, do you want to join us?"said Sammie

"Oh yes, I would love to!" said Lisa, "Thank you so much for asking."

The four ladies left work that day and headed towards Japantown in New Macross. The day was hot as they headed towards the Japantown center and they could see many new buildings and parks being constructed for the survivors of Dolza's Rain. While major metropolitan areas were all but destroyed in the attack there were areas that were left untouched and many small towns escaped unscathed. It did not stop the trickle of refugees coming to Macross even though the RDF and charity organizations in each region worked together to ensure that those remaining in those areas had food and shelter.

Lisa, Kim, Sammy and Vanessa passed the wooden gates that denoted the entrance to the Japanese District. The residents of the area were busy preparing for the festival. Construction workers were making portable wooden booths that would house the food, games and vendors that sold trinkets during the festival. Other workers on ladders hung large paper lanterns from the light posts. There was an atmosphere of anticipation and excitement.

"I can't wait, for Saturday to come,"said Sammie. "I hope we can find something cute to wear."

The women walked down the sidewalk, looking into all the shops and pointed out all the cute things that they saw. They saw a ramen shop as well that displayed these beautiful bowls of different ramen and other Japanese delicacies, they all looked at one another and said, "Let's go there for dinner."

They finally found the kimono shop that they were looking for and entered the shop and was greeted with a small bow by the older woman shopkeeper. "Youkoso irasshai mashita ! Ah, such pretty ladies, you must be here to buy yukata for the festival on Saturday. Ne?... Ah Misa-chan is that you?"

"Hai – Saito-san, Ogenki desuka? " Lisa greeted the shopkeeper with a bow and said, "It's been a long time, I'm sorry I have not come to see you earlier."

Mrs. Saito came up and gave Lisa a hug, "Eh, Misa-chan, no worries, we all know that you have been very busy and you did so much for us when we were living on the ship."

Sammy, Vanessa and Kim looked at each other, they didn't know that Lisa was familiar with the shop owner and was surprised to hear Lisa and Mrs. Saito continue their conversation in fluent Japanese. After a few moments, Lisa turned to her friends. "Girls, I'd like you to meet Mrs. Saito," said Lisa, with a smile. "She'll help you pick out just the right yukata for Saturday."

The trio who had been looking at the various fabrics laid out while Lisa and Mrs. Saito were chatting rushed forward to point out their favorites. Two hours later the three woman had their completed their purchases. The trio were thrilled with the beautiful colorful yukatas that they purchased as well as the little drawstring bags to use as a purse that matched their yukatas. "Lisa, didn't you buy anything," said Kim as they left the shop heading to the ramen shop they saw earlier. "Oh I already have a couple of yukatas, and don't need to buy another one, but I did buy some cute hair accessories!" replied Lisa waving a small brightly wrapped package.

After the ladies sat down at the ramen shop and ordered their meals, the conversation turned from their newly purchase yukata's and accessories to Lisa. "Where did you learn to speak Japanese so well, was it after you got to Macross Island?" asked Sammie.

Lisa smiled, "No, there wouldn't have been enough time, I actually lived in Japan for a bit when I was younger and stayed until I went to boarding school at 12. I loved living there and had a really hard time leaving when I had to go away to school. I came back as often as I could. I stayed with a host family one year, who was the cousin of Mrs. Saito. I became very close to them and when I was transferred to Macross Island, they introduced me to Mrs. Saito. I would visit her and her family when I had time off. I was so happy to hear that they got safely on the ship when the SDF-1 folded near Pluto. The Saito's are very dear to me and consider them as family. The shop you see today is tiny compared to the shop the family owned in Japan, they were known for the most beautiful kimonos worn by some of the most famous of the Gion geiko or geishas. Luckily all was not lost in Dolza's attack. The Saito's had a huge underground storage facility to store some of the older kimonos and were able to also use it as a bunker during the attack and sheltered many of their neighbors and family when the Zentraedi fleet started to appear in our atmosphere. They are still in Japan, but managed to ship some inventory to Mrs. Saito to sell for the Obon festival as it wouldn't be the same without the traditional clothing."

"I can't wait to wear mine," said Kim dreamily, as she imagined herself in the yukata meeting a handsome man at the festival.

"Well, it's going to take some practice to get dressed in them and tie the obi around,"said Vanessa practically

"We'll all help one another and Mrs. Saito has a friend that works in the mess hall that she said would be willing to help us get into our outfits if you have trouble," soothed Lisa. "It's been a while since I wore one but I am sure it will come back to me."


	2. Chapter 2

Two days before the festival, Lisa and the crew were manning the bridge, sending the various squads to their patrols for the day

A ding notified Lisa that there was an incoming transmission coming in to her station. Lisa flipped the switch and the leader of the Skull Squad Capt. Rick Hunter appeared on the screen. Lisa's heart did a little flip and she felt butterflies in her stomach as she opened communications with him. Rick had the most beautiful deep blue eyes that she had ever seen and thick, unruly black hair, that made Lisa just want to run her fingers through his hair and pull him in for a kiss. Unfortunately, the crush was single sided and Lisa knew there was no way in hell that Capt. Hunter felt anything for her except friendship.

Lisa smiled and spoke into her headset "Skull Leader, this is Delta One, come in."

"Delta One, this is Skull One, so where you sending us today Lisa?" Lisa looked down at the coordinates assigned and frowned a bit. "It looks like you are headed to check out the reports of some Zentraedi rebel sightings in the northeast quadrant, this is a recon mission only, do not engage unless fired upon and report back if you run into any issues. Please be careful, Hunter."

"Sure thing, Capt. Hayes, uh Lisa can you switch over to a secure transmission?" asked Capt. Hunter.

Lisa was a bit confused as she didn't think any questions Rick had about the orders she provided needed a secure transmission, but she flipped another switch and she and Rick were on a private channel. While the channel was private in regards to the whole base couldn't hear their conversation, the conversation was still audible on the bridge. "Communications secured, what's going on Rick?" Lisa asked, tilting her head a bit to the side and giving him a wide eyed questioning look.

All Rick Hunter could think about at that point is how cute Capt. Hayes looked when she did that. He stared at her in silence, until she said, "Rick? You ok?"

Rick jolted out of his daze, responded to her query, "Uh, I wanted to know, if you weren't busy or anything, if you wanted to gototheObonfestivalwithme and Max and Miriya."

"Huh? I'm sorry Rick, I didn't quite get that, could you repeat your request, something about Max and Miriya?" said Lisa.

Rick took a deep breath and let out at sharp breath of air that caused the front of his hair to waft up a bit and spoke a bit slower "I'm sorry Lisa, I said, if you aren't busy, would you want to go to the festival with me and Max and Miriya on Saturday?"

Lisa bit her lower lip in disappointment. She had already promised the girls that she would go with them and didn't want to back out of her commitment to them. She tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear and smiled at Rick, "I would love to go with you, but I already promised the girls that I would go with them."

Sammie, Vanessa and Kim listening to the conversation with bated breath couldn't believe what they were hearing. Lisa was going to turn down a date offer with Rick, the man of her dreams, to go out with them! They were all for girl power and solidarity but they knew that Lisa shouldn't let this chance go. Sammie and Kim both ran up to Lisa's station and stood on either side of her. "Hi Rick," Sammie said and waved to him on the screen. Rick feeling a bit dejected that Lisa couldn't go with him due to other plans, returned a small wave to Sammie.

"Lisa, listen, we were going to tell you after our shift ended that Rico, Bron and Konda asked if they can join us on Saturday as well. If that's ok with you, we'll go with them and we will meet you, Rick, Max and Miriya at the festival." said Sammie.

"I hope that's okay with you Lisa, Rick," said Kim.

Lisa looked at Rick on the TacNet, who looked at her with a pleading face. "Rick, is that okay with you?"

"Yeah. Lisa that would be great, are you sure you don't mind coming with me instead?" asked Rick.

"No, not at all,"replied Lisa with a blush and a shy smile.

"Ok, I will come and pick you up at 3pm ok?" Rick said with a grin.

"Ok, 3 o'clock then. See you then. Thanks Rick, for inviting me." Lisa said shyly.

"Can't wait, it'll be a lot of fun Lisa, see you then, Skull Leader out."

Lisa responded in a bit of a daze still, "ok, returning to regular transmission, " as she switched them back onto the network.

Lisa proceeded to give Rick and his squad take off instructions and they took off into the bright blue skies.

Rick had been quite nervous asking Lisa to the festival and had thought about how to ask her over the last couple of days. While this wouldn't be the first time Lisa and Rick had hung out together, it was the first time that he had asked her out on a date. Since that time Rick had saved Lisa at Alaska Base and returned to the SDF-1, they had naturally seem to gravitate to one another. Even though Rick was mostly in the skies on patrol, when he was on base, they seem to find each other in the mess hall more than once or twice a week for meals or coffee breaks. Outside of the base on the weekends, they also somehow ended up spending time together. Lisa would sometimes stop by Rick's quarters with some food she had made and end up hanging out with him or he would stop her place to see if she wanted to go to do something with him and Max and Miriya. These were never planned events so it was weird to purposefully ask Lisa to do something with him.

With all the time spent together the last couple of months, their relationship didn't seem to progress much further than it did on the SDF-1. Lisa was insecure about confessing her feelings to Rick for a myriad of reasons. One she was older than him , two she was his superior officer but what held her back the most was that Rick still seemed to harbor feelings for Lynn Minmei. Sometimes when they hung out together, Rick would get a faraway look in his eyes when a Minmei song came on over the radio. Lisa, trying to be a good friend, didn't pry into his feelings and left him alone to think about the singing star. Although Lisa was frustrated with the situation, she couldn't keep away from being with Rick even if it was only as a friend.

As for Rick he was conflicted about his feelings, he still had feelings for Minmei as his first serious crush and tried to keep Minmei in his heart, but there were many times his attraction for Lisa overwhelmed his infatuation for Minmei. Even though Lisa was stern and serious on duty, off duty, he found a very caring, giving woman who had a great sense of humor and at times could be quite playful. Rick had thought about approaching Lisa about becoming "more than friends" but didn't see why a woman like her would be interested in a man like him. Sometimes it was easier to be "in love" with someone unattainable like Minmei than to deal with the possible rejection of someone he needed to see and work with everyday.

The squad had been in the air for about 20 minutes when Max contacted Rick.

"Hey boss, how'it go?" said Max. "You two were off the TacNet for quite a while there."

Rick gave Max a thumb's up, "Yeah, it's all good. We are all set, I'm going to pick her up at 3pm."

"That's great, I'll let Miriya know, she will be happy Lisa's coming with us. She'll probably ask Lisa to help her pick out something to wear" said Max with a laugh.

Even though Max and Miriya had been married over a year and Max was incredibly patient with his Zentraedi wife, Miriya for some reason had taken an instant liking to Lisa when they first met, calling her a kindred warrior soul and felt comforted when Lisa was with her in new cultural situations. While Miriya approached each situation with her usual bravado and eagerness, Lisa gave Miriya an example on what to do in unfamiliar situations especially when Rick and Max couldn't provide that guidance.

Max and Miriya couldn't figure out what to do with their two friends. Miriya, Claudia and the Trio had spent many hours discussing why two people so meant to be with one another were two stubborn to see it and Max wondered how Rick who was such a great pilot and able to see the big picture during a fight was so blind to his own feelings for Capt. Hayes. He wondered if Rick held onto the memories of Minmei as a way to keep his growing feelings for Lisa in check. For some reason, Rick didn't feel that he was good enough for Lisa and always seem to comment on the type of guy that would be good enough for his friend Lisa, who in Rick's words, "deserves someone who can give her the world and would compliment her elegance, beauty and class."

Max and Rick chatted a few more minutes about their plans for Saturday before rejoining the squad on the patrol. The Skull Squad didn't run into any rebel Zentraedi that day and returned safely to base after their 10 hour patrol. Rick was exhausted when he got back to his quarters and was pleased to find a glass container filled with a hearty stew wrapped in a beautiful piece of square fabric on his kitchen counter. It wasn't the first time that he had come back to find a meal from Lisa in his quarters after a long day and he realized how nice it was to have someone care about him. After much thought, Rick decided that maybe it was time to try and explore whether a relationship between him and Lisa would work. He didn't get a chance to see her the next day but looked forward to seeing her on Saturday afternoon for the Obon festival.


	3. Chapter 3

Lisa woke up on Saturday as usual and hurried through her usual chores. She headed over to the Trio's quarters to help them get dressed and changed as they were going to be meeting Bron, Rico and Konda at 1pm. With the help of Mrs. Saito's friend, Mrs. Iwata, the girls were dressed and ready to go in no time. Mrs Iwata insisted on returning to Lisa's quarters to help her get changed as well as she had heard about Lisa's date with Rick. It seems that everyone on the base knew that Rick had asked Lisa to attend the festival with him even though the only ones that knew about it were Rick, Lisa, Max, Miriya, Claudia and the Trio. Lisa did not have to wonder who had been the ones to spread the news of her upcoming date.

Back in her quarters Lisa, got ready for her date by applying some soft natural makeup to her face and applying eyeliner and mascara to her eyes. Mrs. Iwata helped dress Lisa's hair into loose french braids on each side of her head and then tied together in a low ponytail. The pony tail was curled and draped in front of her left shoulder and a small flower hair ornament was tucked into the top of her left braid. Lisa then dressed in the cotton undergarment called a juban worn under the yukata. Mrs. Iwata helped Lisa put on her yukata and tied the obi around her waist. On her bare feet, she wore traditional geta sandals and in her hands carried a small foldable hand fan and a small fabric carry bag called a kinchaku, that was used to carry Lisa's id, money, and makeup. Once Mrs. Iwata was satisfied with Lisa's look, she took her leave about 15 minutes before Rick was to come by.

"Iwata-san, arigato gozaimasu for your all your help today," said Lisa with a bow as she said goodbye.

"Ah Hayes-san, no worries, you look beautiful in this yukata and so happy that you and the other girls want to wear such traditional clothing. Capt. Hunter, I think, will like very much, ne?" said Mrs. Iwata as she patted Lisa on the shoulder. "I will see you tonight at the festival."

Lisa sat on her couch and started to read a report while she waited for Rick to come by, she didn't have long to wait before she heard a knock at her door. Lisa closed the report and put it down on the table and got up from the couch and opened up the door. Rick who was about to knock on her door again, was speechless as Lisa opened the door dressed in her yukata. Rick recovering quickly, looked at her with admiration in his voice, "Lisa! You look beautiful." He had never seen her dressed up in any way other than her uniform and casual weekend clothes.

Rick couldn't believe how sweet and beautiful Lisa looked. Her yukata was pale pink with small and medium sized sakura flowers scattered across the fabric in various colors of pink, lavender and white. Some of the blossoms were lightly outlined in silver and light gold and gave a very slight shimmer. Her obi was a periwinkle color tied into a large bow in the back of her yukata. Lisa blushed at his compliment and looked up shyly at him through her lashes. Rick's breath caught and he couldn't help but stare into her green eyes. They stood like that in the hallway for a few minutes until a door slamming down the hall jolted them back to reality.

"Rick, come in for a few minutes while I get my bag ok?" asked Lisa. Rick stepped into Lisa's quarters always amazed at how comfy and inviting her small quarters were. Lisa picked up her small bag and tucked the folded fan into her obi. Rick watched at how comfortable she seemed in the yukata and that she seemed to walk quite gracefully in the geta sandals. Rick a bit embarrassed by his casual clothing after seeing how elegant and beautiful Lisa looked, rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and said "I hope you won't be embarrassed being seen with me Lisa. I wasn't sure what to wear and well didn't have much time to think about it. I probably should have asked you earlier for some suggestions."

Lisa looked at Rick dressed in a light blue polo shirt with dark blue jeans, he looked great in Lisa's eyes and honestly she didn't care what he wore, she was just happy that he was there with her. She thought about what he said and said soothingly, "Rick, I am sure that there will be others not dressed up at the festival either. I wouldn't worry about it too much but if you want, I do have one of my father's yukata here that you can wear, if you'd like."

Rick grinned, he had seen others leaving the base dressed in traditional clothing as well and after seeing how pretty Lisa looked he wanted to look like he belonged with her. "You wouldn't mind, Lisa, I mean your father was an admiral..."

Lisa just laughed at that, "and what does being an admiral have to do with wearing a yukata? Wait right here and I will get it for you." Rick watched as Lisa walked into her bedroom and heard her rummaging around in her closet. She came back out after a few minutes holding a dark blue piece of material and a black piece of fabric. Lisa handed the outfit to Rick and motioned him to her bathroom to change and a few instructions. "Just tuck the right side of the yukata into the left side and come out and I will tie it for you."

Rick walked into her bathroom and changed. It felt odd to be stripping in Lisa's bathroom and putting what amounted to a thin bathrobe on. He folded his clothes neatly and left them on top a small cabinet Lisa had in her bathroom. Rick slipped on the yukata and found a short string in the inside of the yukata that he tied to another string located in the left interior side of the yukata. He felt a bit better that the yukata wouldn't accidentally open and held closed the left side of the yukata with his right hand and opened the bathroom door to Lisa's front room.

Lisa's eyes lit up when she saw how handsome Rick looked in the yukata. It was all she could do from touching the v-neck patch of skin that showed below Rick's throat. Rick came out and stood in front of Lisa and said, "Well? what do you think?"

"Oohh, you look great.! Let me just tie the obi for you." Lisa quickly tied the yukata with the matching obi and stepped back, "Hunter-san, I think you are all ready to go." Lisa said with a smile.

Rick grinned back and ran his hand through his hair and said, "I hope it doesn't look too weird."

"Not at all, come," Lisa tugged his hand and led him into her bedroom. Rick followed and stepped into her bedroom nervously. As many times as he had been to Lisa's quarters, he had never been in her bedroom before. He looked around and found a pleasant looking room with a large open window with white curtains pulled open and pulled back to let the sunlight in. Running the length of the window was a bed, a bit wider than the extra long dorm size beds the single pilots quarters had. On top the bed, a blue and white quilt lay neatly folded on the snowy white cotton sheets. Two pillows lay side by side with a small pillow quilted with the same pattern as the cover. A tall bookshelf was next to the bed filled with books and a few picture frames. Rick thought that the room felt like Lisa, warm and comforting and thought about how it contrasted with his stark quarters.

Lisa pulled Rick over to a wide mirror attached to her closet door. "Look, " she said. Rick looked in the mirror to find him and Lisa standing side by side. In the mirror, Lisa's profile was turned to observe him as he was looking in the mirror. Rick smiled as he noticed how good he and Lisa looked standing together. Lisa turned back to look in the mirror with him and wished that she had a camera to capture the image of them standing together. They were both lost in thought for a few moments, silently looking at the couple in the mirror and thinking about how right that couple in the mirror felt. Lisa slowly became aware of the time and nudged Rick from his daydream. "I think we better go if we are to meet Max and Miriya." Rick came to and looked at his watch, "Oh you're right, we are going to be late meeting them if we don't leave now." They hurried out of the room with Rick glancing back at the mirror and the comfy bed of Lisa. He shook his head slightly to get the images out of his head and slipped back on his sandals as Lisa grabbed her small bag. Rick looked at her, "Ready?

"Hai!" said Lisa as they left her quarters to meet Max and Miriya.


	4. Chapter 4

Rick and Lisa hurried to the entrance of the base to meet Max and Miriya. They were a few minutes late and found Miriya impatient to go and Max trying to soothe her nerves. As she saw Rick and Lisa approaching she asked them impatiently "Where have you two been? I thought you would have been here by now. I'm very interested in attending this festival and don't want to miss anything. " Miriya stopped her ranting then took a good look at Lisa,'s outfit and made-up face "Hmmm, you look very different than normal Lisa with this make-up. I like it very much, I can see why Rick may have tried to keep you for himself. You should try this look more often as I think many people on the base would be more attracted to you."

Lisa used to the outlandish comments that Miriya can make ignored her commentary and decided to return her compliment, "You look beautiful Miriya."

Miriya said, "Yes, your suggestion to purchase a yukata was a good one and enjoyed shopping for one with you. I am surprised at how often your culture requires the purchase of new or different clothing for different events. This style is not at all what I would think would be comfortable, but I feel quite delicate and pretty in it." Miriya's yukata was black with large floral patterns on it with a red obi. Max was also wearing a dark grey yukata with a black obi with geometric patterns on it.

Max had greeted Rick with a slap on the back and asked where he had gotten the outfit from as the last time they had spoken Rick wasn't going to wear traditional clothing. "It belonged to Lisa's father, " said Rick to Max, "she's letting me borrow it." Max and Rick watched and waited for Lisa and Miriya to continue their mutual admiration of each others outfits. Max had them pose for a couple of photos and also took a few of Lisa and Rick, and Lisa did the same for Max and Miriya. As a jeep and driver became available, the four boarded the jeep to take them down to the Japantown area.

As they got closer to their destination, Lisa became more excited and told Rick, "I can't wait to get there and eat. I skipped lunch and I'm starving now. I've been dreaming about the food this whole week." Rick laughed and said, "Well I am glad we got paid then, otherwise I don't know how I would have kept you fed today." It was an inside joke between the two of them, but after Rick and Lisa started hanging out, he had been surprised to see how much Lisa could put away when she was hungry.

The two couples were left outside the wooden gates to the Japantown area, where they entered the festival. The wide street was filled with people checking out the stalls filled with vendors selling Japanese goods and crafts. The street led to the the center of the area, where a large stage was setup for the dancing later that evening. The two side streets next to the stage were also filled with stalls, one side selling different types of food and snacks and the other side filled with booths where kids and adults could play carnival games. The four friends wandered down the street looking at the various stalls. They decided not to purchase anything yet as they didn't want to carry the items with them and decided to come back later in the day to pick up the items they wanted.

Rick, worried that Lisa hadn't eaten, decided to hurry them towards the street with the food stalls. Once there, they were greeted with a variety of wonderful smells. One stall sold yakitori and kushiyaki, a variety of skewed meats and vegetables grilled over a flame with a light teriyaki glaze. Another stall made fresh takoyaki, while fresh tempura was being fried at another stall. Lisa's eyes lit up at the variety of food stalls and wasted in time in introducing Rick, Max and Miriya to her favorite street foods. Rick enjoyed seeing Lisa so happy purchasing snacks and food from the various stalls. He was surprised that many of the food vendors greeted Lisa informally and that she knew so many of the people in the community. Rick, Max, Miriya and Lisa had eaten their share of gyoza, tempura, onigiri, yakitori and even small bowls of udon when they hit the dessert stalls. Rick didn't know how Lisa could still be hungry but gamely followed her to see what was being offered at the various stalls. At the taiyaki stand, Lisa purchased two of the fish shaped waffles filled with a sweet red bean paste, insisting that they try the funny shaped treat. Miriya quite enjoyed the treat but questioned the purpose of shaping the treat like a fish when it tasted nothing like a fish. Lisa also saw a shaved ice booth but decided to save that treat for later in the night.

After they ate their fill, they passed by the center stage where a taiko drum demonstration was about to begin. They found a few empty seats in the back and watched the exciting performance. Max and Rick couldn't stop talking about the performance when it was over and how talented the performers were. The group then ran into Sammie, Kim and Vanessa with Rico, Bron and Konda. While Rick and Lisa didn't know the Zentraedi defectors very well, their enthusiasm for all the variety of things that they had seen and done that day were infectious. As the groups broke apart and headed in different directions to continue their exploration of the festival, Sammie gave Lisa a big thumbs up and a wink when Rick wasn't looking.


	5. Chapter 5

Rick, Lisa, Max and Miriya then headed to the games area where they tried their hand at a variety of carnival games. They won their fair share of small stuffed animals, which Lisa and Rick gave away to many of the small children that were crowded around the area. Miriya, was unwilling to give up the stuffed toys as she had never had a stuffed animal in her life and wanted to keep her prizes, which made them all laugh. At the end of the street was a shooting gallery where Rick, Max and Miriya competing fiercely with Rick coming up the winner in the final round. From the prize bag, Rick pulled a pink enamel sakura shaped pendant set in stainless steel. Max laughed at Rick's prize but Rick pocketed the prize with a smile and wouldn't tell the others what he planned to with it. Lisa, didn't push Rick on the matter, she was a little hurt that he hadn't offered the pendant to her and didn't want to know his plans for the pretty little pendant especially if his plans involved giving it to someone else

Not about to let that ruin her night, the foursome headed back towards the center stage where the Obon dancing was going to begin. The sun had started to set and the the lights in the lanterns had been lit in anticipation of the darkness. While the dancers were getting ready to start there was a commotion coming from one side of the stage. "I wonder what all the fuss is about over there,"said Max.

"Maybe we should go check it out," said Lisa looking a bit worried.

As the four of them started to walk over to the commotion and as they got closer, the crowd parted and thinned out. Rick, Lisa, Max and Miriya were easily able to see the cause of the disturbance. Minmei with her manager and cousin Lynn Kyle were arguing and causing quite a scene. Minmei dressed in a dark flowered yukata with pink flowers and pink obi was unsteady on her geta sandals. Her beautiful dark hair was pulled back in a bun with tendrils falling around her face. Her face was a bit flushed as she pulled away from Lynn Kyle who was trying his best to keep her steady as he yelled at Minmei's personal assistant.

"Why did you let her have it, you know she can't handle her alcohol," he yelled at the girl, who was cowering on Minmei's other side.

"I couldn't stop her, she just took it from me and told me she'd fire me if I didn't let her have it," the girl cried.

"Well too bad, you're fired anyway. Get out of here and leave us alone," yelled Lynn Kyle at the poor assistant.

Lynn Kyle kept a firm arm on his Minmei who was making her way to the raised dance floor.

"I wanna dance Kyle and you can't stop me," she yelled pulling her arm away from Kyle. Kyle worried that Minmei would hurt herself by falling on the dance floor stopped and shook Minmei a bit to try and sober her up. He handed her a bottle of water, "here you need to drink this and stop being such a baby Minmei, you're making a scene. What will your fans think of you."

Minmei taking the water bottle from Kyle was about to take a drink, when she caught sight of Rick, and his friends. "Rick, oh Rick," she cried as she ran up to Rick, almost tripping in the process. Rick caught her just as she was about to fall. "Hey easy there, Minmei, please be careful" Rick said in a low voice. "I got you."

"Oh Rick, I can't believe it's really you, it's been ages since we've seen each other." cried Minmei. Minmei continued, "I've missed you so much, why haven't you called me?"

Lynn Kyle caught up to Minmei and tried to pull her out from Rick's arms. "Minmei, you need to be careful with the type of people you associate yourself with, these military dogs don't appreciate everything you've done for them during the war."

Rick ignoring Lynn Kyle and his comments, and still holding onto Minmei, looked at her and said, "It's good to see you too, I've missed you a lot too." While he said that, Rick looked at his first love and was a bit disenchanted with what he saw. Instead of the young, bright energetic girl of 16 that he met two years ago, he saw a young woman trying to appear older than she was. Minmei was made up with a heavy foundation, blush on her cheekbones and her eyes lined with a smokey shadow. Even her yukata was wore in a more suggestive manner with the v-neck in the front a bit wider than necessary and her assets more prominently displayed with the help of a push up bra. Rick was a bit embarrassed for her as well as she looked like a little trashy for an Obon festival Her drunken behavior didn't help as Minmei continued to hold onto Rick and tell him all the things that she'd been up to since they'd last seen each other, all said with a slightly drunken drawl.

Lisa couldn't believe what she was witnessing. She was embarrassed and hurt by the scene of Rick holding Minmei in his arms. She quickly looked at Max and Miriya and said to them, "I'm going to go and watch the dancing, okay? I'll see you later." as she headed back towards the stage.

It took Rick a good 15 minutes to get Minmei off of him and he gratefully turned her over to Kyle. Minmei had cried a bit as well and told Rick repeatedly to call her as he was someone who, "really understood her." He didn't want to mention that the few times that he had called her since Dolza's attack, she had never been able to come to the phone or was too busy to talk to him. After promising to call her, she wouldn't let him leave until he promised, Rick was able to turn back to his friends.

Max and Miriya had waited for Rick through the scene caused by Miss Macross. They had tried to help by blocking the paparazzi from taking too many photos of the incident, but knew that there was nothing they could do to help the incident from being reported in the nightly entertainment news. Rick looked at his friends apologetically, looked around for Lisa and then said, "Where's Lisa?"

Max and Miriya looked at one another and Max, said to Rick quietly, "She left."

Rick felt terrible. He had hoped that Lisa had left to go to restroom or to one of the other stalls, but didn't expect that she left. He knew Lisa was a private person and would not have wanted to stay and witness the scene that Minmei had caused.

Miriya spoke up, "She didn't quite leave, she said she was going to watch the dancing."

That gave Rick hope, he hoped that he could find her and apologize for not getting away from Minmei earlier and disrupting their enjoyable night. Rick, Max and Miriya headed back to the viewing area of the stage to see if they could find Lisa. It was Miriya who spotted Lisa dancing in the line. She was with Mrs. Saito and Mrs. Iwata and a couple other Japanese women, gracefully going through the various hand motions and movement of the dance. Rick couldn't take his eyes off of her was amazed at how beautiful and elegant she looked. When the dance ended Lisa was on the other side of the stage far from where Rick, Miriya and Max were standing and they saw Mrs. Saito take Lisa's hand and disappear with her into the crowd.

Rick not wanting to lose sight of her and wanting to apologize, hurried over to where he had seen them dancing. When he reached the spot on the raised stage where Lisa had been, he looked down the street and saw that Lisa and Mrs. Saito had reached a booth in the middle of the street selling beautiful cloths and fabrics. He was about to run down, when he saw Mrs. Saito approach the back of a a tall man, who turned around and instead of acknowledging Mrs. Saito, looked passed her to Lisa. Rick could see the look of joy on the handsome man's face as he strode towards a seemingly paralyzed Lisa. Rick watched as the man ran the last few steps to Lisa, picked her up and embraced her in a strong hug. Rick felt a sense of deja vu as he recalled a similar scene a year ago when Minmei had been reunited with Lynn Kyle and Rick didn't like the tense feeling he was experiencing.

Miriya and Max who caught up with Rick, took one look at the scene below them and the look on Rick's face. Miriya made a cryptic, "hmm, that's interesting." comment and headed down toward her friend Lisa with Rick and Max following.


	6. Chapter 6

As they got closer, they could see a circle of people surrounding Lisa and the man who still held on to her. The stranger had just put Lisa down, but still held onto her waist when the three of them approached.

"Ah Misa-chan, you have no idea how good it is to see you," said the man, "you look beautiful. I always knew this yukata would look wonderful on you, it suits you perfectly. When Oba-san told me that you had survived, I knew that I had to come and see for myself that you were okay. I wanted to come earlier but travel has been difficult after the attack. I hope you can forgive an old friend."

Lisa trying to hold back the tears in her eyes, dabbed at them with a handkerchief Mrs. Saito handed her. She just looked up at the man in front of her and said in a soft loving voice, "Takuya, I am so glad you are here, I missed you terribly and I am so happy to see you." Lisa and the young man continued to stare at each other drinking in the sight of one another, while the crowd of friends and family stood silent watching their reunion.

While they were lost in their own world, Rick studied the man in front of him. Takuya was wearing a yukata and geta similar to Max's but wore it in a way that looked very natural on him. He was taller and a bit thinner than Rick,with an oval face, beautiful almond shaped eyes with long black lashes and silky hair that fell past his ears that was partially tied up. At first glance, he looked somewhat effeminate, but he carried himself with an understated strength that even Rick recognized. It was Mrs. Saito, who finally noticed Max, Rick and Miriya watching the scene.

"Gomen nasai," said Mrs. Saito crossing over to where Rick, Max and Miriya were standing. "Misa-chan's friends, please come and meet my nephew. He has known Misa for many years and just arrived today to help with the festival and to see Misa again."

Lisa, finally pulling herself together, blushed and led her old friend over to meet her friends, "Takuya, I'd like to introduce you to my colleagues and friends. Takuya Saito, this is Capt. Rick Hunter, Lt. Conmander Max Sterling and his wife, Lt. Commander Miriya Parino Sterling. All, this is Takuya Saito an old and very dear friend of mine."

Max and Miriya gave their greetings to the gentleman and he bowed in return. Rick, feeling a bit unsettled by what he had witnessed between Lisa and her friend, sized the man up as he stuck out his hand in greeting. "Hi, it's nice to meet you, I'm Rick Hunter." Instead of bowing as he did to the others. Takuya shook Rick's hand firmly while looking him in the eye and said, "the pleasure is all mine." Takuya smiled at Rick before releasing his hand. Lisa, a bit overwhelmed with the reunion, didn't notice anything unusual between the two men. Miriya, who was fascinated with watching and understanding human emotions, whispered to Max, "why did it just seem like I saw two dogs fighting over a bone?" Max just laughed and whispered back, "I'll explain later."

Takuya, still holding onto Lisa's arm, turned her towards him and held her two hands in his. "Misa-chan, why don't you go with your friends and enjoy the rest of the festival. I need to help oba-san here at the booth. If you are free, can we have lunch tomorrow?"

Takuya, sensing a swirl of mixed emotions from Lisa, and the slight tension between Lisa and Rick, bent down a bit and looked Lisa in the eyes and said, "Misa-chan, whatever it is, it will be ok. We'll talk more tomorrow." He pulled her in for one last hug and then bent and kissed Lisa on the forehead. Lisa just nodded her head at him and Miriya came up and took Lisa by the arm. Lisa looked at her friend and smiled. Max, Miriya, Lisa and Rick said goodbye to the group at the Saito's booth headed back towards the main stage area.


	7. Chapter 7

Lisa seemed to be recharged after being reunited with her friend and although quieter than before, did turn to Rick and say, "I hope you had a nice visit with Minmei." Rick didn't say anything just smiled weakly at her and said, "Hey Lisa, let's go get one of those shaved ices you were raving about

That suggestion seemed to put the fire back in Lisa's eyes as she smiled and led the way back to the shaved ice booth. The earlier tense atmosphere seemed to vanish as they were ordering their ices. Lisa and Rick debated over their flavor choices while Miriya opted for a rainbow flavored one so she could try all the flavors while Max choose a cherry and blue raspberry for his flavoring choice as it reminded him of his and Miriya's Veritechs. Lisa finally chose a tropical flavored ice, with pineapple, coconut and passion fruit with vanilla ice cream and azuki beans under the shaved ice. Rick had the same style of shaved ice as Lisa except he chose watermelon, peach and cherry for his flavorings. The laughter and teasing from earlier in the day returned as the four friends enjoyed trying the others icy treat.

After they had finished the shaved ice, Lisa bought a couple boxes of manju (pounded rice cakes filled with sweet red beans and other fillings) to take back to the admiral and to share with the others when they got back to base. They still had about an hour to go before the fireworks show when Lisa stopped at a booth and made a purchase. Lisa wouldn't tell them what she had bought and took them down the street behind the stage where there were no booths or stalls. They followed her and others down the street and through a gate that led to the river below.

As they approached the river bed, they could see many small bright lanterns floating down the river. "It's so pretty, what is its purpose," asked Miriya enchanted by the sight.

Lisa responded in a low voice, keeping with the somber mood at the river bank. "As I mentioned earlier, the purpose of the Obon festival is to honor one's ancestors. The Obon dance which was performed earlier is our way to remember and thank our ancestors for the sacrifices they made. The Toro Nagashi, or floating of the lanterns, is a symbolic way of saying goodbye to our loved ones and signals the return of their spirits back to the world of the dead. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my father and so it meant a lot to me to come tonight and perform the Obon dance and to light a lantern in his honor. I know that you all have lost loved ones as well in this war and well, I thought, this might be a good way to say goodbye."

Rick was touched by Lisa's thoughtfulness and thought about Roy and Ben, his older brother and friend that were lost in battle. Seeing Lisa a bit sad, Rick took her hand in his and gave it a light squeeze. Lisa looked at him with her teary green eyes, smiled and returned the squeeze with one of her own. Max and Miriya also lost in their own thoughts for a few moments also unconsciously took one another hands.

After a few moments of silence in remembrance, Lisa picked up one of the lanterns and unfolded it to light the wick inside. Rick, Max and Miriya all did the same with their lanterns and they lit the wicks with the small box of matches that came with the lantern. Rick was the first to free his lantern into the river and said softly, "Goodbye big brother, I won't ever forget you."

Max and Miriya were the next to free their lanterns. Max didn't say anything, but they all knew that the lantern was for his best friend and team mate Ben Dixon. As Miriya let her lantern go, she said, "for those Zentraedi that never knew peace and never knew love."

At last it was Lisa's turn, she knelt down carefully on the riverbank, lit the wick and pushed her lantern out into the river. As it started to float downstream, Lisa, slowly stood keeping her eyes on the lantern, she suddenly snapped to attention and gave a smart salute. "Goodbye, daddy, I'll miss you." Lisa held the salute until the lantern reached the first river bend and disappeared from sight. The foursome slowly left their place on the riverbank to give others the opportunity to release their lanterns. They then followed a small path that led upwards to a large grassy area where they could see farther out into the river and view the many lanterns that floated upon it's waters. Rick stood next to Lisa and watched as she crossed her arms across her body as if she was holding herself in from breaking down. He put a arm around her as she watched the lanterns float down the river into a large lake that fed into another river that lead miles away to the ocean.

All of a sudden, they heard a loud whizzz sound and a large boom. In front of them in the sky bloomed a large blue chrysanthemum flower that floated towards the ground and disappeared in a wisp of smoke. The fireworks show had started and the barge floating in the lake starting shooting off the various rockets lighting up the night sky with a colorful display of firework flowers and stars. Rick and Lisa, oohed and ah'd at the beautiful display. Rick still had his arm around Lisa and a couple of times glanced at her side profile as she watched the fireworks display with an enraptured face. Her face, illuminated by the fireworks, glowed as she smiled while watching the elaborate display. He held her a bit tighter as she leaned into Rick during the last moments of the show and he thought about how lucky he was to be there with her that night.

Lisa and the group were in a good mood after the fireworks display, they walked back towards the festival happy and tired after the long night. The small booths were closing down as they walked back towards the gate to catch a taxi back to the SDF-1. They were about to leave when Rick saw something he wanted at a small booth. He had his friends head towards the taxi line and met them there a few moments later. He didn't mention what he purchased and the friends talked about their favorite parts of the festival and the wonderful food they ate. As they reached the base and returned to the quarters, Lisa gave Max and Miriya one of the small boxes of manju that she had purchased and thanked them for the wonderful time.

Rick walked Lisa back to her quarters. Lisa, thinking about the incident between Rick and Minmei, was a bit quiet. She didn't want to ruin the night by bringing up the issue and decided to let it go and not mention it. It just reiterated to her that Rick and her would never be more than friends. She sighed a bit as they reached her door and opened it to let Rick in. "Would you like some tea before you go Rick," she asked.

Rick thanked her and went into the bathroom to change back into the clothing he wore earlier. He folded the yukata and left it on top of the basket. He came out of the bathroom just as Lisa came out of the kitchen setting a tea tray onto the coffee table. He sat on her couch and Lisa knelt in her yukata and poured the tea and handed him the a cup. As he sipped the fragrant tea, Lisa took a seat next to him on the couch and inhaled the fragrance from her own tea. They sat in silence, until Rick brought up their meeting with Takuya.

"So, uh, the guy we met earlier, you two seemed close," inquired Rick.

"Oh yes, Takuya, he's a good friend, he's been like family to me since his family hosted me when I lived in Japan," said Lisa.

Rick curious about Lisa's childhood asked her a bit more about the time she lived with the Saito family.

Lisa opened up to Rick about the years she spent in Japan and some of the fun times that she shared with the Saito family. Rick commented that she seemed to very comfortable with the Japanese customs. He asked a few more questions, "So why do they call you Misa-chan?"

Lisa laughed and told Rick a story about one of the little girls of the Saito's who renamed her Misa because Lisa reminded her so much of a manga character named Misa who saved her space ship from the an alien attack and became a space heroine. After that the name stuck and everyone called her Misa or Misa-chan. Rick laughed and said, "I like it, it's very cute and suits you very well too." Lisa neglected to add that Takuya at times called her Mi-chan, which was his special name for her.

Lisa yawned, it had been a long day. Rick seeing how tired she was, said his good nights and was about to head to the door when he remembered he had something for her. "Lisa, I had a really good time tonight and hope we can do it again soon. I want you to have this to remember tonight and to thank you for all the things you do for me." Rick pulled out a dark pink silken cord from his pocket with the enamel sakura flower pendent hanging from the cord.

"Oh Rick! Thank you so much, I love it," said Lisa, thrilled that Rick was giving her the pendant that he had won earlier that night. Rick helped Lisa tie the silken cord around her neck and smiled as he watched Lisa admire herself and the pendant in the mirror by the door. He had gotten to see so many different sides of her today and hoped that the incident with Minmei wouldn't ruin his chances with her. As Rick left, Lisa gave him a peck on the cheek and said goodnight. Rick walked slowly back to his quarters and thought about the day spent with Lisa and his run in with Minmei. The last vestiges of doubt he had around his feelings for Minmei were gone and he knew that his interest in Lisa was definitely more than just friends. He wished that he could spend time with Lisa the next day, but he knew that she was meeting her old friend the next day for lunch. He felt a bit uneasy about Lisa's lunch date with Takuya the next day but was comforted in the fact that sooner or later her friend would need to return back to Japan.


	8. Chapter 8

Lisa awoke the next morning to sunlight streaming through the window onto her bed. She lay stretched out thinking about the events of yesterday and the many emotions that she experienced. Her hands reached up to the caress the silken cord and pendant that Rick had given her. Being with Rick felt so right, yet the uncertainty of his feelings for Minmei and seeing the pretty star in his arms had hurt more than she allowed herself to feel yesterday. She didn't know if she could take much more of it and knew that she was going to have to make a decision soon. Either tell Rick how she felt and be prepared to be disappointed or continue to keep quiet about her feelings and put some distance between the two of them and maybe eventually get over him. Lisa shook her head vigorously in frustration and decided to not think about the continued conundrum called Rick Hunter

She turned her thoughts to the reunion she had with Takuya and a smile broke out on her face. She had been a bit shocked to see him last night but was so comforted that he was in New Macross. Lisa had met Takuya when she was eight and he was twelve. Her father had been good friends with the Mr. Saito and had allowed Lisa to live with them in Tokyo, Japan while he was stationed in Okinawa. To Lisa, Takuya was a kind older brother who had always looked out for her while she was adjusting to a new life in a new country. He never treated her with disdain and helped her adjust to living in Japan. After Lisa went to boarding school at age 12, she didn't see much of Takuya, but they kept in touch through letters and later via email. At 12, Lisa had her first crush on the older boy, but he never ignored her or teased her as other boys may have if they had found themselves the object of a younger girls affection. If truth be told, he was a little bit in love with Lisa too as she acted much older than her age and had a seriousness and maturity that he appreciated compared to the silly girls in his class that were much more interested in gossiping and fashion. At 16 though, he knew that nothing would come of their mutual admiration but had always thought that one day when they were older he might have the courage to ask her out. And so Lisa and Takuya remained good friends and saw each other on the occasional holiday and summer break.

It was the summer after Lisa had turned 16 and was about the enter the military academy in the fall that Lisa and Takuya had a huge falling out. Lisa had not been back to Japan in over a year and was spending some time there before she started at the academy. She had been there a few days, when Takuya had returned from a camping trip with his friends and Lisa and Takuya made plans that night to go out and hang out in the city. His friends had teased him about the pretty sixteen year old and to remember that she was still jailbait and not to take it too far with her. He had laughed along with them, but knew that it was not the right time to be more than just her friend. After she finished at the academy, though that was a different story.

That night, after visiting all their old haunts and gorging themselves on street food, they found themselves at a park overlooking the city. The tall young man looked at the pretty girl next to him and wished that she was already 18. As they sat overlooking the city, Lisa opened up to her friend and told him that she had met a man and that she was in love. Takuya's heart hurt a little more than it should when he heard her news but listened to Lisa talk about Karl Riber and her plans for the next two years. He couldn't hold back getting upset when she told him how she planned the next few years.

"Are you crazy?" he yelled at her. "How can you plan your life around this guy, you just met him a year ago and you're going to plan to graduate and ask for recommendation to be shipped off to Mars Base to be with him? How can you think of something like that? And for that man to leave you here on Earth until you can make it up there to him! He is not the man for you, Lisa. The man for you should be one standing by you, growing with you and supporting you while you figure out your path in life" Takuya had tried to talk sense into his young friend stating that her age, Karl's age and her father would all be impediments to this plan. Lisa had stubbornly held to the belief that she and Karl could make it work and the rest of the visit had been marred by the fight they had that night.

Before she left that summer and left to enter the academy, Takuya tried to talk to Lisa again, but gave up when his arguments just left her in tears. He let her know that he would be there for her and that they would always be friends and that he would support her in her plans.

A year later, Lisa sent Takuya a note that her and Riber were engaged to be married and that they would marry by proxy after she graduated the academy and would join Karl at Mars Base Sara as his wife. Admiral Hayes, her father had declared that he would block any of her transfer requests to Mars Base and that marrying Karl by proxy would be the only way to get out from under her father's thumb. The military tried to keep married couples together if they could and as Karl's wife the transfer would be approved over any objections the admiral may have.

Takuya rushed to her side ten months later when Lisa was notified of the loss of all personnel at Mars Base Sara due to a rebel UEG attack. Takuya was there for Lisa as she cried at the memorial service for Karl Riber and the others lost that day. He stayed with her the next couple of weeks as she mourned the loss of her fiance and as she finally started to put her life back together. Karl's death affected Lisa deeply. While naturally a bit reserved, the glow that shone in Lisa eyes was gone and she threw herself into her courses at the academy to the exclusion of everything else.

Takuya wish he could have stayed with her longer but had to return to Japan to finish his studies as well. He was proud of her when she wrote that she graduated at the top of her class and that she was accepted to a two year intensive study program run by the UEG to learn more about the space fortress that had crashed to the planet less than a decade ago. A few years later, at 23, Lisa a Lt. Commander was named by Capt. Gloval to be the First Officer of the newly refurbished space fortress, the SDF-1.

Lisa returned to Japan during her last leave before the SDF-1's inaugural launch. She was also meeting her father for a short vacation before taking on her duties as the First Officer of the SDF-1. While their relationship never really recovered from the arguments over her relationship with Karl and Lisa's career choices, Lisa loved her father and knew that he was only trying to protect her and therefore she consented to spending some time with him during her short leave period. Lisa and her father had a great time sightseeing and touring other parts of Japan and after her father left and returned to Alaska Base, she had returned to the Saito's home to spend her remaining leave.

Takuya had been working since his graduation from Tokyo University to expand the family business to encompass additional Japanese arts in addition to the kimono and fabrics business. He was excited to have Lisa back and while they didn't have much time together he knew that his feelings for her hadn't changed and in fact increased as he spent time with the bright, strong, confident woman that Lisa had become. Lisa, still not ready to move on after Riber, but very attracted to the man she had known she she was a child, wasn't able to give Takuya an answer when had kissed her one starry night at the same overlook where they had their first argument. He didn't push her to answer but asked that she think about them and whether or not they could have a future together. Lisa returned to the SDF-1 and her duties, but with the subsequent attack by the Zentraedi and space fold by the SDF-1 on it's inaugural launch, Lisa had pushed to the back of her mind the still unanswered question.

Lisa, realizing that she was going to be late if she didn't get a move on, got up from her bed and got ready for the day. The summer day looked beautiful, and Lisa being in a good mood, dressed to fit the mood. After a quick shower, a brush through her hair, and an application of light makeup and lip gloss, Lisa pulled on a white cotton sundress that she paired with a sunny yellow cardigan and a coral colored belt. On her slim feet she slipped into a pair of comfortable nude platform wedge sandals and ran out the door. She chatted and smiled at the guards at the base entrance as she waited for a taxi and waved goodbye to them when they helped her into the taxi. After Lisa left, the guards commented on how pretty Lisa looked and how nice she was even though she had a reputation for being an Ice Queen. They determined that the nickname probably had no basis and was a lie started by people jealous of the pretty officer.

Lisa reached the Japantown gates a little before 11:30am, she paid the taxi and walked thought the wooden gates. Even with the late night the last night, the streets were busy with throngs of people enjoying the last day of the festival. She reached the booth of Mrs. Saito, who greeted Lisa excitedly. "Ah Misa-chan, you're here. Taku has been waiting for you." She shooed Lisa into the store behind the booth and Lisa entered the yukata shop. A small bell announced her presence as she stepped through the threshold. The store was empty until Takuya came out from the back and greeted her with a warm hug. "Misa-chan, I'm glad that you were able to come today, please come in back and have some tea."

Lisa followed Takuya to the back of the store that led into the family's living space. She removed her shoes and knelt on the tatami floor next to a small table. She watched as Takuya prepared the green tea, whisking the matcha, and water to make a thin tea which he served to her in a thin bowl. There were small cookies on the table to go with the tea. Lisa, sipped the tea, enjoying the warmth and fragrance of the matcha. She smiled at Takuya and sighed contentedly, "I can't tell you how I have longed for a cup of tea prepared by you, Taku. I'm so happy to see you again."

Takuya looked at Lisa and responded, "Misa-chan, it does my heart good to see you again. You don't know what we went through when he we had heard about what happened on Macross Island. Mi-chan, I mourned for you." He reached his hands across the table and held her hands in his and rubbed his thumbs slowly and softly on the back of her hands as he recounted what they had been though when the rest of the world was informed that during the inaugural takeoff of the SDF-1, that the systems had overloaded and that the ship had exploded taking with it a 10 mile radius of the island. Military carriers and the air force, were stationed around the incident area to keep the world from finding out what happened that day.

"When we saw that the SDF-1 was in the Atlantic and flying over North America a year later, we knew that we were lied to. It made sense then why your father would not return our calls after we had given him our condolences. We thought he was having a tough time dealing with your death, while in reality he was working to finish the Grand Cannon in anticipation of an alien attack. We weren't sure if you had survived though and it wasn't until obasan was able to contact us that we knew that you had made it through. She told us about your care for them on the ship and what you had been through. I heard about your capture by the aliens and your attempts to convince the government to allow the citizens back on earth."

Lisa held back tears as Takuya described what him and the Saito family had gone through after Dolza's attack and how they had survived those first perilous weeks. She had know that they had survived through Mrs. Saito, but felt bad that she had been so caught up in her duties that she hadn't thought to try and help them more. Takuya, sensing her guilty conscious by the look on her face, reassured her with a soft voice, "Mi-chan, there is nothing you could have done, and honestly you did enough. You don't know how proud I am of you and of everything you have fought for to bring those people home. I'm just glad you are home now." Lisa wiped the tears from her face and just nodded her head at her friend.

"Come, Mi-chan, I didn't invite you over today for us to think of unhappy thoughts, why don't I take you for a nice lunch and we can walk around a bit before the booths shut down for the day. What do you want to eat." teased Takuya.

Lisa thought for a few moments. "Taku, do you know of anywhere that makes a good chawanmushi?"

Taku laughed, "I wondered if that is what you would choose, I already asked obasan and she told me where to go for the best chawanmushi." Takuya helped Lisa up from the floor and she put back on her shoes and the went out the shop door back into the streets. Lisa and Takuya were so caught in chatting with one another that they didn't see the number of looks the happy, good looking couple received. Lisa looking young, relaxed and quite different than her normal stern persona in her summery outfit, definitely didn't notice the pilots that passed by her and who turned to give her a second look as she walked down the street. Takuya, noticing the looks from the other males, put his arm around Lisa in a protective manner and stared them down while Lisa continued to fill him in about her last two years.

The couple entered a traditional Japanese restaurant and was greeted by the hostess and was directed to a quiet booth in the corner. The didn't notice the other couple in the opposite booth to them.

"Max, isn't that Lisa?" whispered Miriya to Max. Max glanced over to where Lisa and Takuya were sitting. "Yeah I think it is, Miriya." Miriya had so enjoyed the experiences from last night that she had begged Max to take her back to the Japantown area for lunch and some light shopping.

"It does not appear that she is with Rick,"stated Miriya.

"No, it doesn't appear so, Miriya"

"Why is she not with Rick and why is she with that man we met last night? She shouldn't be here without Rick and that man has more intentions towards her than just to be a friend. We should invite her to sit with us instead." Miriya started to get up to approach Lisa, but Max stopped her.

"Miriya, dear, it's not our place to interfere. I know you are her friend and Rick's friend, but this is something that they need to work out between them."

"Hhmmph, I don't like it Max, and it's that stupid Rick's fault. If he wasn't so blinded by that silly singing creature, he would see what everyone else sees, that him and Lisa are perfect together. I don't understand what is wrong with you humans sometimes." Max had no response to Miriya's complaint and instead distracted her with a bite of his hamachi collar.

Lisa and Taku enjoyed a wonderful meal together and had a great time reminiscing about the past and the fun they used to have when they were younger. Takuya paid for the meal and took Lisa's hand to enjoy the remaining day at the festival. They walked through the arts and crafts booths and looked at the various items being sold. Takuya explained how he was rebuilding the business and the expansion that they had planned prior to Dolza's Rain. The focus changed though since that final attack and him and his family were dedicated to saving the traditions of their culture for the future generations. As he told Lisa, "it's our duty to ensure that our future generations, doesn't forget about our cultural past." Lisa was in total agreement with him and they discussed the various projects that Takuya was undertaking to try and ensure that all aspects of the Japanese culture and lifestyle were represented. The family was opening a cultural center that embraced the old traditions and taught classes from Japanese traditional cooking, the tea ceremony, ikebana (flower arranging) etc. His enthusiasm for the project excited Lisa and she added her suggestions which were met with great interest.

It was getting late in the day and Lisa needed to return to base as she had an early shift the next day. Before she headed to the gates to wait for a taxi to take her back to the base, Takuya pulled her into his arms for a hug and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Mi-chan, I know it may be too soon, but I want you to know that I haven't forgotten you or what you mean to me. I want you to think about what I asked you over two years ago, my feelings haven't changed and in fact, losing you when I thought the SDF-1 was destroyed, makes me more determined to get a positive answer from you."

Lisa blushed and opened her mouth to respond to Takuya's request. "Misa, I don't want you to say anything yet, let's just spend the next two weeks together and see what happens." Takuya, not one to hide from confrontation and liked to deal with issues upfront continued, "I heard about the rumors between you and that pilot that you introduced me to last night and I have to say, that I don't think he's the one for you. He may have saved your life once or twice and you may have developed some feelings for him because of those incidents, but I'm not willing to let you go that easily. Give me a chance?"

Lisa thought about what Takuya said and about her own thoughts about giving up on Rick this morning. After the roller coaster of emotions that she had been put through the last year and a half and the risk that Rick would never see her more than a friend, Takuya's admission of love and her own feelings for the kind, gentle man made sense to her.

"Yes, Taku, I'd like that, to spend time with you before you leave and to see if we can take this to the next level."

Takuya smiled and hugged her closer. "Ah, you won't regret it Mi-chan, I know I can make you happy." Lisa hugged him back and he gave her a quick kiss on the lips before saying good-bye for the night and putting her in a cab back to base.

As she watched him wave goodbye to her in the cab, Lisa wondered if she was doing the right thing and couldn't wait to get back to base and talk to her best friend Claudia.


	9. Chapter 9

Monday morning came and although it seemed liked a normal ordinary summer day, there was a palpable sense of change on the base.

Lisa woke up, eager to start her day and talk to Claudia who had been in Monument City the past weekend. She had left Claudia message the night before letting her know that she needed to talk and was hoping Claudia would be free during their lunch break. There was also a sense of self confidence that Takuya's admission had restored to her. As she got ready for the day, Lisa took a little extra time getting ready, moussing her hair to add some bounce to her freshly washed and dried hair, and making it look like she had just had a professional blow out. Lisa wore some light makeup and lined her green eyes so that they stood out and applied a light lip gloss that made her lips look pouty and kissable. It was definitely not the usual Monday morning Lisa everyone was accustomed to seeing. Lisa smiled at herself in the mirror, popped a little pose, laughed a little to herself and then walked out the door of her quarters with her messenger bag. As she walked to her station on the SDF-2, she was greeted as normal by those on duty and she returned their greetings with a salute and a smile, which was infectiously returned.

Rick, woke up in cheerful mood, which quickly turned sour as he almost spit out his morning coffee when he read the paper. In the gossip section of the newspaper was a large picture of him holding Minmei with a caption, "Minmei and Pilot Rekindle Romance." Angry at himself and the position Minmei put him in and hoping Lisa didn't see the picture, he rushed through his normal morning routine and arrived at the base earlier than normal. He was about to enter the pilot's locker room to change into his flight suit when he heard Lisa's name. "You should have seen the captain yesterday, she looked smoking hot," said one unknown voice. "Yeah, she sure was working it and that guy she was with looked like he was appreciative of it.," said another pilot. "I wonder where that leaves Hunter," said the first unknown pilot.

"Well if that picture in the paper was anything to go by, I would say Hunter is back with Minmei. It sure just didn't look like two people saying, "hi" if you know what I mean." said a third pilot. "It's a shame though, as much as Capt. Hayes and Capt. Hunter fight and disagree, there is something about them two together. I was kinda hoping for them to finally get together."

Rick, listening to the conversation, didn't notice Max right behind him and also heard the conversation in the locker room. Max startled Rick when he put his hand on his shoulder and Rick looked at his best friend. "You ok, boss?" said Max softly, looking at Rick's downcast face. "I think I screwed up,"admitted Rick. "I don't know how things changed so fast and I know now that I was taking her for granted, I don't want to lose her now." Max, not wanting to tell Rick about seeing Lisa with her friend yesterday, pulled his phone out from his pocket and pressed a few buttons, "well maybe this will make you feel a bit better. I meant to send this to you yesterday but it took some time to download the photos from my camera."

Rick's phone beeped indicating that he had a new message. He looked at his phone and saw that there was a new photo message from Max. He smiled when he clicked on the first image and saw a picture of him and Lisa from Saturday, dressed up and looking at the camera happily. Rick, thought again how right it felt to be with her and hoped that he hadn't screwed things up irrevocably. Another message came in from Max, showing another photo of Lisa looking into the camera, but Rick looking down at Lisa with a loving smile. Rick's breath caught, as he looked at the picture. If he didn't know the people in the photo, he would have been envious of the man in the photo, looking with so much love at the woman next to him. "That's what we all see, boss. I don't know why it took you so long to see it, but now that you do see it, maybe you can make that, (tapping on the other photo of Lisa and Rick) a reality." Rick studied the picture again and smiled and nodded his head and said, "Thanks Max." At that they walked into the locker room, the pilots' chattering stopped when they saw that Capt. Hunter walked in. The other pilots didn't want to be caught gossiping about the Skull squad leader and many of them quickly made their way out of the locker room to check on their Veritech's for their patrol.

Lisa had just taken her station and was working on reviewing the flight details for the upcoming patrols when she was called to Admiral Gloval's office. Sammie took over her station and was responsible for directing the air patrols for the the day.

Lisa knocked on Admiral Gloval's door and as she was admitted in, she saluted her old friend and mentor. "At ease, Capt. Hayes, please take a seat Lisa." Lisa sat in front of the admiral who was looking through a report on his desk, he finished reviewing the report and closed the report and looked at the young woman in front of him. He had known the captain since her early years as a child and was proud of the woman she had become, overcoming personal losses and staying a force he could count on when faced with impossible odds. The admiral was not the type to interfere with his subordinate's life but for the woman in front of him that he considered more of a daughter than a colleague or friend, he wanted her happiness above all else. He had been unhappy with the tension that Rick and Lisa caused with their inability to admit their feelings for one another, and hoped that what he was about to do, would finally bring some joy to Lisa's life.

"Lisa, I called you in today, to discuss a request we received from the UEG. It appears that a cultural anthropologist has asked for access to the database stored on the SDF-1. As you know, the SDF-1 carried with it vast cultural knowledge as part of it's mission, until the Zentraedi attack, was space exploration. While our focus has been mainly on reconstruction and the redevelopment of the ecological balance on Earth, it's important that we start to re-establish our cultural heritage as well. We have agreed to the request and I am assigning you to escort our guest and provide him access to those parts of the database that are relevant to his project. I believe you know him already," said Admiral Gloval, "his name is Takuya Saito and he will be here for the next two weeks to gather as much data as possible to assist in opening his Japanese cultural center. This will most likely not be the only request for this type of data and until we can get it housed and separated from our military databases, I'd like you to setup the process and procedures for these types of requests. Any questions?"

"Sir, shouldn't another group be handling this, like the Communications Office? Not that I mind doing it, but as the First Officer and Chief Air Tactical Officer, it seems that this is something that the a lower ranked officer should be handling," said Lisa.

"I see what you mean, but nevertheless, I would like this to handled by you. Lt. Commander Porter can fulfill your air controller duties, once you've setup the processes for handling these type of requests you can return back to your position, by the way, this type of diplomatic work does fall under the role of the First Officer," said Gloval with a smile. "Is there another reason, you don't want to take this on Captain? Is there some issue I am not aware about between you and Mr. Saito that would keep you from fulfilling you duties?"

"Oh not at all sir, I just wanted to make sure that I was clear on this. Mr. Saito and I understand each other very well and we are good friends. I will be sure to help him access the information he needs."

"Very well, Captain Hayes. You are hereby reassigned to handling Mr. Saito's visit. Please take the rest of the day to ensure his visit starting tomorrow will be successful." ordered Admiral Gloval.

Lisa responded with a smile, "Yes Sir." and left the room. Lisa went to her small office to start pulling the necessary data to provide Takuya access to the base the next day. At around 1pm, Claudia came by with a knock on the office door. She leaned against the door frame and looked at the woman typing furiously into her computer. Lisa glanced at Claudia, and without stopping continued typing and said, "Just a minute more.." Lisa finished typing, re-read her last sentences and saved the file she was working on. Claudia smiled at her friend. She loved Lisa dearly, it had taken her a while to gain Lisa's confidence and friendship but once she had it, Lisa had never let her down. After Roy's death, Lisa had been her rock helping her to recover from his loss. Lisa stood up and stretched from her desk, she smiled brightly at Claudia and said "let's go" as they walked to the officer's mess hall

"Well, well, well, someone is cheerful today. You said you had something to talk about with me, did something happen with Rick this weekend, hmmm? Tell Aunty Claudia all." coaxed Claudia.

Lisa just laughed and recounted her weekend to Claudia, the great time with Rick, albeit the Minmei incident, and her re-connection with Takuya and the photo of Rick and Minmei in the morning paper that day. As the two woman sat and ate their meal, Claudia asked her friend, "So what are you going to do?"

Lisa sighed, "I don't know, being with Takuya is so easy, and I love being with him. With Rick we have some good times, but I don't know if this relationship will ever progress. He says he wants us to go out again, but I don't know if it's worth the effort. I don't know if he will ever be over Minmei and I couldn't take being in second place. Maybe it's about time I gave him up on him and face reality. I think I am going to see how this works out with Takuya and maybe get a semblance of a life back. I have to move on from Riber, from my past and look for some happiness... I don't want to die alone Claudia and I don't want to look back on my life with duty and honor being the only thing that anyone would remember me by, if anyone remembers me at all."

Claudia listened to her friend's unusually open admission of her feelings and silently applauded Lisa for realizing she needed to take control of her life. "Good for you Lisa, it's about time you recognized your worth and it sounds like this Takuya is a great guy and can appreciate you. As much as I love Rick and would love to see you two together, if Takuya can turn this officer into the woman I think you are then you have my support."

"Thanks Claudia and thank you for all the many, many years that you've been there for me. I appreciate it more than you know." replied Lisa gratefully. "It's good to have your support."


	10. Chapter 10

The next day Captain Hayes met Takuya at the main base gate and greeted him with a bow. "Mr. Saito," she said, "Welcome to Macross Base, please follow me."

Capt. Hayes and Mr Saito boarded a jeep which took them to the SDF-1. During the ride, Lisa passed him a card key that would give him limited access to the SDF-1 and explained the rules that would dictate his visit to the SDF-1. After her explanation, Takuya chuckled. Lisa gave him a questioning look. "Forgive me Capt. Hayes, it's just that I am unused to such formality, especially coming from someone that I have known for so long."

Lisa smiled but it wasn't the normal smile Takuya was used to seeing from Lisa, and he realized that he was dealing with Capt. Hayes and not his childhood friend. Takuya quickly hid his smile and assumed a serious look and again apologized for being so informal with her. As they reached the base, they exited the jeep and entered the SDF-1. The guards at the door saluted Lisa as she passed and she returned their greeting. It was a bit of a maze to get through the SDF-1 but eventually came to a room with multiple stations. Lisa took Takuya to one of the stations and showed him how to login using the access key he was provided and how to use the terminals to search for the information he was looking for. As they searched through the digitalized tomes, Takuya found a wealth of information for the cultural center and marked the items in the system that they he wanted to have transferred at the end of the visit. Lisa and Takuya worked well into the afternoon on gathering the materials needed, taking only a few short breaks. It was almost 6pm when they decided to call it a day. Lisa had loosened up a bit during the day and allowed herself to enjoy being with Taku. As for Takuya, his admiration for Lisa grew as he worked with her. Her organization skills, thought process and dedication to preserving the arts helped him immensely in working through the archives.

Taku and Lisa had dinner at the officer's lounge, too tired to venture into town. Lisa was also able to introduce Taku to her best friend Claudia, who he quickly charmed with his caring attitude towards Lisa and his gentlemanly manners.

It was about 8pm when Lisa said good night to Takuya at the base entrance. "Capt. Hayes," he said, "Thank you for your hospitality today and your help, I look forward to working with you the rest of this week on this project. If it's not too much of an imposition, will you have dinner with me on Saturday night? I've been informed that there is a wonderful Italian restaurant that should not be missed."

Lisa, playing along with Taku, responded in kind. "Why, thank you for the offer. I would be happy to have dinner with you on Saturday. You know how much I love Italian food."

The two said goodbye and Lisa walked back to her quarters. She was surprised to turn the corner to her corridor and found Rick knocking on her quarter's door. "Rick, what are you doing here?" Rick smiled at Lisa brightly and her heart melted a little. Resolved not to give into her feelings for Rick and her new resolution to move on from him, she steeled herself to be strong. "Hi Lisa, I wanted to see how you were doing, you weren't at your station today and I wanted to make sure you were ok. I missed you on the TacNet."

"Oh I'm fine thanks for asking. I've been temporarily reassigned" said Lisa as she saw Rick frown at her comment. "Do you want to come in for a cup of tea?"

Rick nodded and allowed Lisa to pass to enter her code to unlock the door. Instead of giving her room to enter in her door code, Rick leaned against the door frame watching Lisa as she opened the door. He liked observing her and he noticed that his closeness seem to make her blush. Her blush made him feel that maybe Lisa wasn't as indifferent to him as he thought and that he still had a chance to make things right with her.

As they entered the room, Lisa put her bag down inside her closet and invited Rick to sit down as she went into her kitchenette to make the tea. Rick followed her into the tiny space instead of sitting down on the couch. He took the kettle from Lisa and suggested that he make the tea instead, while she changed out of her uniform. Rick had grown in the last two years and took up the majority of space in the tiny kitchenette. She tried to scoot past Rick who was filling the kettle in the sink and as she maneuvered herself around him, Rick had to hide his smile as Lisa tried to get around him without touching him too much. She finally got out of the tiny space and walked a little flustered to her room to change.

Leaving the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil, Rick walked to Lisa's stereo and turned her music player on and selected some old R&B music. He then took a seat on the soft leather couch and thought how comfy her couch was and that Lisa's couch would be a great place to take a nap, but tonight he was a bit keyed up to think about sleeping. He thought back to that afternoon after patrol was over, when Max and Miriya came up to him. He could tell that Max was trying to keep Miriya from approaching him, but Max was unsuccessful. Miriya marched right up to him and socked him in the arm. "Oww, Miriya what was that for?" Rick yelled rubbing his arm.

Annoyed, Miriya, had said, "That is for losing the most perfect woman for you."

"Miriya, I have no idea what you are talking about." said Rick, pulling Max in front of him in case Miriya decided to hit him again.

"You are a stupid man Rick, why was Lisa out with another man yesterday? She was having a good time with her friend and you will lose her if you continue to let her hang out with him. He is very interested in her and not in a "just friend" way." Miriya marched up to Rick and Max and pointed her finger at Rick. "You get her back Rick, and you tell her how you feel about her. If you screw this up, I will hurt you." Miriya made a hrumpp sound, turned away and marched towards the hangers.

Rick looking bewildered looked at Max to explain. "Uh, I didn't want to tell you this, but we saw Lisa and her friend Takuya at lunch yesterday. They looked like they were having a pretty good time and they were holding hands when they left the restaurant. Miriya made us follow them a bit and they didn't seem to even notice anything around them. The were kinda in their own little world." said Max. Seeing that Rick looked a little downcast by Max's news, Max continued. "I think Miriya's right. If you care about her and I think you do, you might need to say something now boss. Don't let it go before it's too late." Max patted Rick on the arm and followed his wife to the hanger.

The whistle of the kettle woke Rick up from his thoughts. He returned to the kitchenette and prepared the tea and poured it into two cups. As he was bringing the tea out to the table, Lisa came out of her bedroom as well. She had changed from her uniform into yoga pants and a slim pink t-shirt. Lisa had also removed the makeup she had been wearing, washed her face and applied a moisturizer to her skin. She had also pulled her hair back into a high ponytail that swung when she walked. Rick couldn't help but notice how how good she looked especially the way the cotton pants hugged her curves, caused an uncomfortable arousal in him. He busied himself with serving the tea and sat down on the couch in a way that hid his condition until it subsided. Lisa sat next to him and thanked him for making the tea.

"So what brings you here tonight, Hunter?" inquired Lisa as she slowly sipped on the hot liquid.

"I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing, we didn't really get to talk since Saturday night and I wanted to see you." said Rick. "So what's this new mission you're assigned too?"

Lisa paused before answering. "Admiral Gloval has me helping a cultural anthropologist research and collect data for a cultural center that he is opening."

"That sounds great Lisa, sounds like something right up your alley" said Rick positively, imaging Lisa escorting an older gentleman around. His bubble burst when Lisa mentioned the old scholar was none other than her good friend, Takuya Saito. He was further disappointed to learn that Lisa was going to be helping him for the rest of the week.

"I'm going to miss you on the Tacnet. Sammie is much better than she used to be, but she can't replace you. All the pilots agree that during patrol or a battle, we'd rather have you backing us up." said Rick. Lisa nodded, "the experience is good for her and now that things are settling down, Gloval has some other projects in mind for me. I think this is one way of getting Sammie up to speed to take my place soon full time." Lisa and Rick talked about some of the other special projects that have been in the queue but have not yet had the people power to resource.

They also discussed the upcoming move of military personnel to quarters off the SDF-1. Lisa looked around her little rooms as she sipped her tea and said, "I will miss this little place but will be glad for a place I can call home and maybe put in a little garden." Rick listened to Lisa as she outlined her dream house and finally became aware of her rambling. "Oh, I'm sorry Rick, I didn't mean to go on and on." It was one thing that Lisa really liked about being with Rick. He had a way of drawing her out and getting her to talk, like no one else could and the it was the same with Rick. Lisa was always there to listen to him, to help him, to be his friend when things seemed bleak. He didn't realize why he didn't appreciate this in her before and thought back to when he started going to Lisa for advice. First it had been to get advice from his commanding officer on a mission or a issue he had to resolve but gradually she became his confident and his best friend.

Lisa was internally kicking herself for allowing herself to get comfortable with Rick again. It was so easy and she knew if she was going to try and make this work with Takuya, she had to distance herself from Rick.

"Rick, I hate to do this to you, but it's getting late and I have to get up early tomorrow. Is there something you needed or can we chat another time."

Rick, a little surprised that Lisa was suddenly being abrupt with him, got a little angry and forgot what he had come to discuss with her. "No, there is nothing, Lisa, let's catch up later this week ok." said Rick, getting up from the couch.

Lisa walked him to the door and basically shoved him out. Rick realizing that Lisa was pushing him out, stopped her and said, "wait. Lisa, I came because I wanted to see if I could take you out to dinner on Saturday. There is a new French restaurant that got good reviews, you want to go?"

Lisa faltered a bit in her resolution to let him go. Just when she had made a decision, there he was making her question whether or not she was making the right choice. This decision was easier as she already had plans for Saturday so it was easier to turn Rick down. "I'm sorry Rick, but I already have plans on Saturday." Rick trying not to panic and get more details about her plans, asked, "Oh are you are Claudia doing something that night?"

Lisa looked at Rick and right before she closed the door, responded "it's not with Claudia." Rick looked glumly at the closed door, understanding what Lisa meant. He stared at the door for a few minutes hoping that Lisa would open the door and change her mind. When he realized the door wasn't opening, he sighed, turned and headed back to his quarters. Lisa still standing behind the closed door left her hand on the door handle, uncertain if she did the right thing. It was a difficult night for both of them.


	11. Chapter 11

"I can't believe this is happening," Rick said angrily, slamming the door closed to his small office in the hangar. Max who had been sitting in his office drinking a soda, looked up from the magazine he had been perusing. "What's up boss?" Max asked, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose

"We just got a three day assignment in Monument City starting tomorrow." Rick went to the small fridge in the room, opened it and pulled out a cold soda, he slammed the manila folder with the orders onto his desk before pulling the tab on his soda and taking a long drink Max wasn't sure what was going on, "So what's the problem boss, it's not like we haven't had to do this before."

Rick ran his hands though his unruly hair, making it a bit more messy than usual. "It's just now is not a good time for me to be gone."

Max still confused simply asked, "Why?"

"Because Max, if I am not here, she will be with that guy all the time.."

Max got it and said, "Ah, I see, so what are you going to do?"

Rick picked up the folder and flipped through the orders. "It's not like another squad couldn't do this, they want us to escort a shipment to Monument City and stay on guard as the shipment gets installed at the facility. The reason we are being asked to go is, apparently, is that the "Skull Squadron, is a known formidable foe and rebel Zentraedi are less likely to attack." Rick quoted from the folder annoyed. Max out of curiosity asked "Who signed the order?"

Rick sighed, he knew why Max asked. There had been times when Rick had accused Lisa of sending him on missions that others could very well handle and that she did it when she was mad at him or if she wanted to get back at it for something he didn't even know he had done. Many of the times after he had accused her of the offense, he found out about circumstantial evidence or intelligence info that had come in that required the skill set of his senior team. Lisa had accepted his apologies after the fact, but it caused tension between them until they were able to work it out and Lisa was able to forgive him.

Rick took a look at the folder and took a deep breath, he hoped that he didn't see Lisa's official "Capt. Elizabeth Hayes" signature on the order, he breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see her signature on the order. Happy not to see her signature, but still upset about the order, Rick decided to question that order, picked up the phone and made a call. Later that afternoon, Rick found himself presenting himself to Admiral Gloval himself.

As Rick was announced into the Admiral's office, Rick walked in and saluted the Admiral and waited for Admiral Gloval to give him the order "At ease". Instead, Gloval got up from his desk and walked to where Rick was standing holding his salute. Rick continued to stare straight ahead as was required and felt as the Admiral walked around Rick looking him up and down.

"As you were, Captain,"ordered the Admiral. Rick released his salute and took a standing stance in front of the Admiral. Before Rick could speak, the Admiral started right in, "Capt. Hunter, am I to understand that you are not happy with the latest orders the Skull Squadron has received."

Rick tried not to fidget, he didn't really have a good reason to question the order but decided to stand his ground. "Sir, I don't think that the Skull Squadron should be used to as a deterrent for rebel Zentraedi, if that is the case, my team would always be required for all missions. I think it would be better if another squad took the assignment as I am sure they would be able to handle any insurgency. It would be good for the rebels to fear all squads, not just the Skull."

Gloval walked to the window to his office and looked outside and puffed on his pipe. "Hmm, I see what you mean, Capt. Hunter, however for this assignment I would like Skull to take care of this one. The equipment being transported and installed, could be of great use to the Zentraedi but once it's installed into a system, would be difficult to re-purpose for their uses, so I will ask that I have your support on this, Hunter but will take note of your request for future missions."

Rick feeling a bit embarrassed for making such a fuss, agreed to support the mission and thanked Admiral Gloval for his time. Admiral Gloval dismissed Rick and Rick was about to leave when Gloval called him back. Gloval puffed on his pipe and asked if he could speak freely to him, Rick nodded and wondered what Gloval had to say to him. "Hunter, I normally would not interfere with the personal lives of my subordinates but I want to say something to you off the record." Rick could tell that Admiral Gloval was a little uncomfortable and so he waited for the Admiral to continue. "I know that you and Captain Hayes have become friends of sort since your initial meeting during the attack on Macross, and I want to thank you for the many times that you have saved her even at the risk of your own life. If you didn't know already, I don't see the women on the bridge just as my officers but as my family as well, however, Lisa holds a special place in this old man's heart. I have known her since she was a child on her father's knee and witnessed much of the heartache that Lisa has experienced." Gloval stopped at that point and took another puff on his pipe. He looked at Rick and continued, "I want her to be happy Hunter, she deserves it... even if it means losing the best First Officer that I ever had the experience to work with. I don't want anything to stand in the way of what she wants, do you understand?"

Rick flushed with anger as he got Gloval's message and responded with back with a bit of anger, "I understand you loud and clear Admiral, and you are correct, maybe you shouldn't interfere with your officer's private life. You maybe willing to let her go if you think that's what she wants, but I'm not ready to give in yet. If I may retire, sir." At that Rick walked out of office and back to his hanger to give the orders to his team to prepare for the three day mission. He now knew that Gloval wanted Rick out of the way to allow Lisa and Takuya to get closer together. He always thought that Gloval had liked him, but apparently not as much as he cared about Lisa's happiness. Rick wondered why Gloval was interfering now as his closeness with Lisa and their bickering at work had been going on for a while.

Rick spent the rest of the day and most of the night prepping for the trip. He reached his quarters that night at 10pm, and even though Lisa had sent him away the night before, he wasn't ready to give in quite yet. Although she was normally aware of all his missions, there were times when he was assigned other orders. Rick had gotten in the habit of calling Lisa before his missions and felt comforted and supported after talking to her. He decided not to break the habit and rang her quarters, but reached her voicemail, thinking that was unusual for Lisa, he decided to call her mobile phone.

The phone rang about three times before Lisa, answered, "Rick? Is everything ok?" Rick could hear laughter and music coming from the background. "Uh, sorry to bother you Lisa, I thought you would be home, I wanted to let you know that I was being sent out tomorrow will be back in a couple of days."

"What? Hold on." Rick could hear Lisa muffling the phone and talking to someone and then he noticed that they background noise disappeared.

"I'm sorry Rick, did I hear you right, you have mission tomorrow?" said Lisa sounding a little worried, "Where are you going?" Rick explained the mission details to her and Lisa, responded a bit upset, "I'm aware of the operation Rick, but Skull wasn't assigned to it. I don't know how this could have happened. Let me call into operations and see what's going on."

Rick, happy that Lisa sounded upset that he was going to be gone, decided to use that to his advantage. "Lisa, look, don't worry about the mission, I've talked it over with Gloval and Skull is going to take care of it, but I think we need to talk when I come back ok?"

Rick could hear Lisa pause on the other end, "Rick, I don't know if we really have anything to talk about."

"We do, right now's not the the time to talk but Sunday, we are going to lunch okay? I think we need to clarify some things between us," said Rick.

Lisa always unsure when it came to Rick, decided he was right and that maybe it was time for them to clear the air. "Okay, Rick.. Sunday, why don't you come over and I'll make you brunch."

Rick loved Lisa's cooking but didn't want this conversation to be somewhere where she could kick him out. He knew the perfect place where they could talk. "Lisa, how about we go somewhere I know, I'll even take care of lunch ok?"

Before she could respond, Rick heard a male voice, "Mi-chan, are you ready to go, it's getting late you need to get back to the base."

Rick could tell by the far away tone of her voice, that she had covered the speaker to the phone with her hand. "yes, just one more minute, I will be right there ok?"

Lisa got back on the phone and said, "Rick I gotta go, be safe on your mission and yes, I will see you on Sunday. Take care okay?" With that Lisa hung up, and Rick slowly put the receiver down to the phone in his room. Knowing that Lisa was out with Takuya and that Gloval was basically handing her to him, frustrated him.


	12. Chapter 12

For Lisa the next three days was like being in a dream. She spent the days working with Takuya finding materials for his cultural center. Not the whole time was spent at the research terminals and Takuya and Lisa took time to talk about their experiences since they had seen another and to get to know each other again.

Takuya listened to Lisa as she told Takuya the truth about what happened at Mars Base, and he silently thanked Lisa's pilot for ignoring her orders and saving her life that day. She also explained that Rick saved her military career as well as he didn't report her counter order to leave her there and went in to rescue her. Many of Lisa's stories included the fighter pilot in some way and Takuya thought of the old stories of the red string of fate that tied two people together. The string may stretch or tangle but never break and that the it meant that the two were destined to be together. Takuya had always felt that his string of fate was tied to the woman before him and their survival from Dolza's attack meant that they were meant to be and felt that Karl Riber and now Rick Hunter were just the tangles in Lisa's string.

During the day the two were circumspect in their behavior but after hours and off base was a different matter. Lisa, who had forgotten what it felt like to be loved, relished in the care that Takuya showered on her. He was attentive to her, respected her position and her treated her like a woman. While they hadn't gone very far physically they did share some quiet moments alone, holding hands, kissing and some light caresses. Takuya wasn't ready to push Lisa into more physically. He wanted her and their shared kisses wanted him to push for more, but he wanted her to come to him on her own without the emotional baggage that she carried for Hunter. He knew if that day came that Lisa would truly be his as she wasn't the type to give herself to someone else if she wasn't 100% committed to that person.

Everyone on base noticed the change in Lisa, she was happier than she had been in a long time and in fact dreaded Rick's return and the emotional roller coaster that he put her through. She admitted to herself that her emotional state was self inflicted because she could never admit to her feelings for the pilot. With Takuya though, she felt a freedom she hadn't felt in a long time, since Riber had passed away. She didn't know if it was because of their shared past or the fact that he never knew her as the "Ice Queen". The week passed quickly and on Friday early afternoon, Takuya left the base knowing that he accomplished what he wanted to achieve on this trip, enough material to work with to open his cultural center and the woman that he had always dreamed of. Lisa waved good bye to him at the base entrance and promised to be ready for him on Saturday at 6pm. As she was walking back to the base, she heard her name being paged. As she picked up the nearest phone, the command center on the other side, let her know that she was needed on the bridge immediately.

Lisa ran to the bridge, wondering what had happened. As she approached the bridge there was an increase in activity of officers coming in and out of the bridge. Lisa ran into the bridge and was saluted by those on deck.

Vanessa apprised her of the situation. "The escort squad to Monument City was on it's return flight home when they were attacked by rebel Zentraedi, they are currently holding their position but need support. We've sent the Admiral Gloval is on his way and Sammie was relieved of duty as she wasn't feeling well, we've been waiting for Commander Richards, but he hasn't arrived yet."

Lisa fearing the worst, went to her station and picked up her headset and opened communications to the Skull Leader, "Skull Leader, this is Delta One, please come in."

Rick was relieved to hear Lisa's voice over the Tacnet and make visual communication with her. Lisa smiled at him, happy to see that he was ok. "Well hotshot, heard you got yourself into a tight situation," she said lightly to try and and alleviate the tense situation. "So, what's the situation, Capt. Hunter?"

Rick quickly explained that while on their return flight back after the install, they were ambushed by a two scout ships, two dozen pods and three Quadrano power suits. Miriya had tried to negotiate with them but met with resistance and the two females Zentraedi called her a traitor and disgrace to her race. That had pissed Miriya off and a dog fight had started and many of the pods were disabled before both sides retreated. The power suits and the scout ships were still out there and the Skull didn't want to risk engaging as they didn't feel that they had enough firepower to defeat the scout ships. The squad had been discussing tactics when Lisa had contacted them.

Lisa gave the call to have another squadron go out and support the Skull Squadron. It would take a little over two hours for the additional support to reach the Skull's location. While Lisa tried to work a way out of situation by studying the landscape of the area that Rick's team was in. In the meantime, Rick reported out every ½ an hour on the situation and described the bleak situation that they were seeing. The rebel Zentraedi, unwilling to give up and surrender had started to leave their disabled pods and head to the scout ships. Rick described the weakened physical conditions of the Zentraedi and how the team could not fire on the unarmed Zentraedis. While they waited for the support, the scout ships rose up and started advancing on the team. The team tried to reach out and negotiate a surrender with the scout ships and were contacted by the Zentraedi on the ships. Rick patched their communication to the bridge where Lisa also tried to negotiate a peaceful surrender. She took note of their desperate situation from the gaunt conditions of the Zentraedi on the ship. Their supplies had obviously run out a while ago and Lisa didn't want to know how they had been surviving. She gleaned from their boasting that they had targeted the supply shipment but was misinformed on the timing of the shipment. Instead of waiting to strike another day, they decided to make a last stance against the fabled Skull Squadron and come back victorious or go out in a blaze of glory.

The Zentraedi's cut communications and both scout ships set their targets on the Veritech fighters. Rick and his team had no choice but to fire back on the scout ships and the Quadrano power suits. Max and Miriya took on the two Quadranos and was successful in defeating them, but unable to prevent their explosion in the air. Miriya said a little prayer for her Zentraedi sisters and turned her fighter back to the two scout ships that were firing on the squad. While the squad maneuvered and attacked the scout ships, they received the additional air support and were able to send the two scout ships after crashing to the ground. As the ships neared the ground, they could see some of the remaining Zentraedi jumping out of the burning ships, hoping to escape the wreckage but the sudden explosion of the scout ships quickly ended the lives of those Zentraedi that tried to flee as the burning wreckage fell and killed those who escaped. The squads and the bridge were horrified by the loss of Zentraedi life that night and the squads remained in the air until a cleanup crew could come and dispose of the bodies and contain the radiation from the ships.

It was past midnight when Rick finally reached the base. The team had opted to push on to New Macross instead of returning to Monument City for the night. Rick had hoped that Lisa would have been waiting for him as she had before after previous difficult patrols, and was disappointed not to see her waiting for him at the hangar when he came in. His disappointment showed and Miriya gave him a hug before her and Max left for the night. Rick reached his quarters and entered the room. It felt cold and sterile after his three day absence and Rick sighed as he heard his door shut with a thud. He walked over to the sink to get a glass of water before heading to bed and noticed a still warm glass container wrapped in a blue cloth on the table. A note was attached that simply said, "I'm sorry, you did what you could, - Lisa" Rick opened the container and inhaled the aroma of the chicken and rice dish that was prepared. He picked up a clean fork and and ate the food, savoring the fact that while Lisa hadn't been there at the end of the night, she had made the effort to provide some comfort at the end of a long and difficult night. Rick finished and left the dish in his sink while he got ready for bed. He thought back to the the night and the unnecessary deaths of the Zentraedi rebels. Unable to rest, Rick left his quarters and headed to the one place he needed to be. He found himself in front of Lisa's quarters and before he lost courage, he knocked on the door to her quarters. He knocked a little louder when his initial knocks didn't get a response and finally he heard Lisa approach the door and ask, "Who is it?"

"Lisa, its me, Rick."

Opening the door, wearing a short thin cotton robe tied over her pajama shorts and tank top, Lisa looked at Rick sleepily and asked, "What is it? Is there another emergency, I didn't get a call."

"Can I come in Lisa?" asked Rick in a whisper. Lisa nodded and opened the door wider to let him in. It was a surprise to her that Rick had showed up at her quarters. They settled on the couch and Lisa waited for Rick to start. She had been upset over the latest rebel attack and had talked to Claudia afterward and felt that Rick probably needed that same type of support. Lisa couldn't help but feel his pain as he described what the team had gone through that couldn't be picked up by the cameras for the bridge. She reached out her hand to him and felt him tighten his grip on her as he recounted the events and questioned the futility of the Zentraedi endeavor. It was past two am when Rick stopped talking and just seemed to stare into the space in front of him. Lisa still holding on to his hand and half falling asleep decided for that night to forget about everything else in the world. She knew what Rick was feeling and knew he needed the emotional and physical comfort of another human being that night. She got up and led Rick into her bedroom. Lisa led him to her bed and pushed him into a sitting position on the bed. This seemed to have woken him up a bit and he looked around at Lisa and her bedroom a bit confused about how he got there and what he was doing there.

Lisa smiled a bit at his confusion and said, "It's not what you think Hunter, I think we both need some rest and I don't think you should be alone tonight. Let's just leave it at that ok?"

Rick just nodded his head in agreement turned his head and looked away as Lisa removed her robe and climbed past him into the bed. She pulled the top sheet over herself covering her body and then motioned to Rick to lay on top of the sheet. He whispered to her, "Are you sure this is ok?" Lisa just waved him forward onto the bed, already closing her eyes. Rick paused before laying down and looked at Lisa. Her eyes had already fluttered closed and her breathing evened out as she fell asleep. Rick watched Lisa sleep for a few minutes before feeling the tug of his own eyelids closing over his eyes. He removed his workout pants and extra shirt he wore and lay on the bed in his undershirt and boxers and pulled the light coverlet over himself and turned to face Lisa while she slept. It wasn't long before Rick was sound asleep with the demons of the night, chased away by the woman next to him.

They had only been asleep for a few hours, when Rick awoke. He turned his head and was comforted that Lisa was still asleep next to him, the top sheet kicked away. The air had become a bit chilly in the morning and Lisa had turned her body towards Rick's heat. Rick was tempted to pull her into his embrace, but knew if he did she would wake up. He took the top sheet and covered her and then fell back asleep on his own. It wasn't for another couple of hours that Rick woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. He stretched and wondered if last night was a dream or if he really spent the night with Lisa. Looking around he found his clothes where he had left them next to her bed and pulled them on before going out to the living quarters. He could see her in the small kitchenette scrambling eggs, Rick walked in quietly behind her and put his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a quick squeeze. "Thank you Lisa," he said whispering in her ear.

Lisa who had woken up about half an hour before Rick, was in the kitchenette mentally berating herself for last night's actions. She had slipped quietly from the bedroom she didn't want to be in the bed when Rick woke up as that would have made the situation even weirder. Deep in her thoughts as she whisked the eggs, she didn't notice Rick come up behind her to give her a hug.

The action startled her and she set the bowl of eggs down on the counter with a small thump. Rick continued to hold her and rested his head on her shoulder turning his head into her neck. She could feel his breath on her neck and she shivered a bit from his closeness. While she wanted nothing more to give in to his embrace, she knew that she could not do that to Takuya and that last night had already been a huge mistake. Lisa turned in Rick's arms, rested her hands on his shoulders and lightly pushed him back until he released his hands from her waist. Lisa could see the confused expression on Rick's face and sighed. She felt bad about what she was about to do and said to him, "Like I said last night Hunter, it's not what you think. Please don't misunderstand what happened last night, we were both emotionally and physically exhausted from yesterday's events. I don't want anything to ruin our friendship, do you understand?"

Rick's heart fell a little bit at her words. He could see the concern and fear in Lisa's green eyes as she waited for his reaction. He decided not to push it at that time and alleviate her fears. "I just wanted to say thank you for last night, you're always there to listen to me. I don't know what I would do without you." Lisa tried to make light of the situation and joked, "You'd go hungry without me, is what would happen.. Let me finish making these eggs and we can have some breakfast. I have some things to take care of today and need to start my day."

Rick went to the bathroom to freshen up while Lisa finished making breakfast. He wasn't sure what to do. Maybe all the gossip was wrong, maybe Lisa didn't care for him in that way. He had just come to the realization himself that he was in love with her, but maybe he was reading all her signals wrong. Frustrated with the constant emotional swing he'd been on lately, he decided to act as if nothing was out of the ordinary and try and reestablish the equilibrium they had before last week.

Lisa had just set out two plates and two steaming cups of coffee on the kitchen counter when Rick came out. He sipped the dark brew gratefully, needing the pick me up after the last couple of days. Lisa smiled as he enjoyed his cup of coffee and watched as he started in on the eggs, bacon and fruit she had put on his plate. She watched the pilot as he ate, trying to assess her feelings for him and alternatively thinking about her date that night. She knew she had to make a decision soon and so far odds were in the favor of her childhood friend. Lisa's attention to Rick was drawn back when he asked her if he had missed anything in Macross the last couple of days. There was not much news, except that the military housing had been completed and that personnel would be moved off the ship the next few weeks. Lisa pulled up a map on her tablet of the layout and showed Rick where his house would be. He was pleased to see that it was near a park and off the main thoroughfare. He asked where her house was located and was pleased to see that Lisa's house was in a cul-de-sac less than ½ a mile away from his place and noticed her backyard while fenced in backed into a wooded area that was being cultivated. Claudia and the Trio were nearby, all within walking distance of one another, while Max and Miriya were down the street from Rick's new home.

They had a nice breakfast together and Lisa was happy that things between Rick and her seem to be back to normal. Rick helped Lisa clean up and thanked her for the breakfast. He asked if they were still on tomorrow and Lisa was a bit surprised that he still wanted to hang out with her. She confirmed that they were still on for the next day and Rick left her quarters thinking of what he needed to prepare for the next day. Lisa cleaned the rest of her quarters and went out to purchase supplies for the week before returning home around 3pm to get ready for her date.

Author's note: Thank you all for reading so far, I appreciate the kind words and encouragement. Not too good with battle scenes so I hope you will forgive me.


	13. Chapter 13

Lisa took her time getting ready that night, taking a long relaxing bath, washing and drying her hair and using ceramic hot rollers, curling her hair so that it fell in a sexy wave of tousled hair down her back. She pulled out a crimson red halter dress that had a small flounce on the hem of the knee length dress. Lisa turned to look at herself from the back, to make sure that the dress lay flat and that her undergarments weren't visible. This was a dress that did not forgive any bump or bulge. Satisfied with the way the dress made the best of her assets, Lisa worked on her makeup, applying a light foundation, blush, neutral eyeshadow and lined her eyes with a dark brown liner. Her green eyes popped after she applied mascara and she lined her lips with a neutral color shade and applied her favorite lip gloss. It was 15 minutes before 6pm when she grabbed her clutch and a light cream colored wrap and walked out the door.

As she walked out to the base entrance, she received a lot of appreciative looks and second glances from those coming back to base. Lisa felt a little self-conscious but knew she was looking her best. Rick was one of those that was coming back from the base at the same time Lisa was heading out. He had gone to a gourmet grocery store to pick up some delicacies for their picnic tomorrow and was now arranging for a jeep the next day inside the guardhouse when he saw her approach. His jaw dropped as he stared at her sauntering up to the gate and the sergeant next to him let out a low whistle, "Damn," he said, "didn't see that one coming, she looks hot.." Looking at Rick and knowing the rumors about the two of them, he asked, "she coming here for you?"

Rick still staring at Lisa, and admiring her curves, responded without looking at the sergeant, "No she's not here for me."

"Too bad" was the response as the sergeant continued to stare at Lisa. Rick, annoyed at the way that the sergeant was checking Lisa out, cleared his throat and got his attention. "Uh sorry Capt., you are all set for tomorrow morning at 10am, for a jeep. Have fun sir." Rick thanked him and went out the door as Lisa reached the gate and was chatting with the other guard on duty. The guard, a fatherly type, who had been used to seeing Lisa leaving the base the last couple of days, teased her a bit about her "boyfriend in town" and asked if she needed a taxi. "No, he said he's going to come and pick me up today." Lisa replied. The guard nodded, "that's good, a good woman like you and everything you've done and been through, deserves the best. Glad to see you find someone that appreciates you Capt." He then nodded his chin to indicate that someone was behind her.

Lisa looked behind her and saw Rick standing there. Lisa blushed. She didn't expect to see him there and didn't want him to be around when Takuya came and picked her up. It was an uncomfortable moment, made worse when Takuya pulled up a silver sedan. Takuya had seen Lisa and Rick standing together as he approached and felt a little worried. He got out of the car and approached the two, he smiled when he saw Lisa and how wonderful she looked. He was pleased that she had made such an effort for him and was proud to be seen with a woman like her. "Misa-chan, you look great, absolutely beautiful," he said, taking her hand and kissing her on the cheek in greeting.

"Thank you," Lisa whispered back and moved closer to Takuya's side. Takuya then greeted Rick, "Captain Hunter, good to see you again." Rick returned the greeting and simply looked at Lisa and said, "I hope we are still on for tomorrow.". Annoyed that Rick would purposefully bring that up, she held her head up and nodded her head affirmatively, while Takuya looked at her with a question in his eyes. Rick heard her say to Takuya, "I'll tell you over dinner." Not unhappy that he had caused a bit of tension for them on their date, he watched them leave and watched as Takuya opened the door to the sedan and helped Lisa into the front passenger seat.

The drive into town was a bit quiet between Lisa and Takuya until Lisa said, "I'm sorry, I have something to tell you, can we stop?" Takuya stopped the car at a nearby park and Takuya got out and opened the door for Lisa. Lisa, got out of the car and not knowing where to start, gingerly walked through the tan bark in her heels and sat on one of the playground swings. Takuya, waiting for Lisa to speak, didn't say anything, but sat next to her in the other swing. Finally, he said, "Misa-chan, tell me what's wrong. What do you need to tell me."

Lisa sighed and said, "Taku, I did something incredibly stupid, I am so sorry, I don't know what to tell you" Takuya fearing the worse, especially after he noticed Rick and Lisa together earlier, said, "just tell me Lisa, we can work through it together." Hearing Takuya call her Lisa instead of Misa or Mi-chan, made her look at him.

"We aren't children or teenagers anymore Lisa, and as adults I think that we can talk about whatever is going on with you. Especially if we want to make this work between us. I know it took you a long time to recover from Karl's death and from what you've told me there hasn't really be anyone else in your life. If something happened with Hunter, I need to know. You know it's not like I have led a celibate life all these years. I may not like what I hear, but I think I can deal with whatever it is you have to say."

"You're right Takuya," and Lisa started to tell Takuya about the discussion she and Rick had earlier that week before we left on the mission, the battle the other day, and what happened the night before with Rick and the plans she had with Rick the next day. "I was planning to tell you tonight, I respect you too much Takuya to do otherwise."

Taku got up and hugged Lisa, he was thankful for her innocence and grateful that Hunter wasn't the type to take advantage of that emotional innocence of hers. They may have an emotional tie to one another but as long as it wasn't a physical one, Taku felt that over time he could weaken that bond. "Come, we will be late for our reservations. We can talk more then."

Takuya led her back to the car and let her in and got in and drove to Ristorante Ora, a restaurant Lisa had been dying to try since it had opened a few months ago. Not only was the wait list long but expensive as well. "How did you get reservations?" she asked Taku laughed and said jokingly, "you are with a man with connections. I know people." They both laughed and he pulled up to the valet parking in the front. Lisa was handed out of the car and they walked into the restaurant together, where they were seated in a secluded booth. The waiter brought over two bubbling glasses of prosecco and presented them with the menu. Lisa perused the menu with great interest and they discussed the different items on the menu finally deciding on a. ceviche appetizer, with linguine and clams for Lisa and homemade lasagna for Takuya. As they waited for the food, they continued the conversation that they started in the park.

"Lisa, there is something that I want to discuss with you. I know that it may still be early for us, but I want to invite you to come back to Japan with me when I leave next week. Will you come with me? I don't want to be apart from you any longer and I think that you could use the break and we can be with one another without interruptions. I know you still have your enlistment to finish, but maybe you can consider finishing at the base in Japan."

Lisa thought it over a bit and the man in front of her who could be her future. She knew it was the right choice for her to make and decided to make a leap of faith. "I'll ask Admiral Gloval for a two week leave starting next week, okay? After that we will talk about next steps

Taku, happy with her decision to return with him, decided not to let Lisa's date with Rick the next day mar their night. He was determined to show her what she's been missing in her life and what Rick couldn't provide for her. It was the right move, as Lisa was impressed with Taku's maturity and sense of responsibility to his culture. In many ways they were very similar and Lisa was convinced at the end of the night that she had made the right decision.


	14. Chapter 14

Lisa awoke the next day and recalled the night before. Before taking her back to base, Takuya and Lisa had walked around the city and found themselves in another park, where in the darkness they had found some cover under some trees and shared some increasingly passionate kisses. Lisa blushed as she remembered his hands caressing her bottom and the distinctive bulge in his pants that let her know that he was not unaffected by her own touches. Taku had pressed forward a bit and slipped a hand through the neckline of her dress and softly kneaded her breast and played with her nipple as it tightened under his touch. Things were started to progress when Taku freed his hand from her loosened dress top and put his hand back onto the tree behind her. Breathing heavy, he asked her whether or not they should find a hotel for the night.

Lisa, not yet ready to take that step, asked if she could have more time. Taku nodded and pulled Lisa into his embrace and hugged her tightly. It was difficult to watch her get out of the car that night and they kissed a bit more before she finally got out.

The guard that Rick had been talking to earlier was still at the gate when Lisa returned, nodded to her as she entered the base and noted her mused hair and swollen lips. He couldn't wait to share his observation of the Captain's return with Sammie who he knew would be interested in this tidbit.

Lisa had a bit of time before meeting Rick and she got ready for the day, she wasn't sure what he had planned so she put on a pair of white capri pants and a pink embroidered tunic top. Her hair still slightly curly from the night before was partially pulled back and she applied some light cosmetics. She ate a bit of yogurt and checked her email while she waited for Rick to pick her up.

Rick was scrambling in his quarters to finish up making lunch and making himself presentable for his lunch date. He had a restless night of sleep knowing Lisa was out with Takuya and because of that woke up a bit later than planned. He had just finished packing the lunch basket when the phone rang. Thinking it was Lisa checking on him, he picked it up and said, "Hey, I'm not late yet am I?"

"Hello, Rick is that you?" asked a familiar voice on the other end. "Why haven't you called me yet?"

"Minmei?" asked Rick a bit confused. "Of course silly, who else would it be?" replied the singer. Without waiting for an answer, Minmei continued, "I wanted to know if you were free today, maybe we can hang out and go watch a movie, I'll have to go in a disguise, but I would love to spend some time with you. Please tell me you would come Rick?"

Rick annoyed at the call and Minmei's disregard for his own schedule responded, "Sorry Minmei, I can't make it today, I already have plans."

"What but Rick, I never get to see you, can't you cancel them for today and hang out with me. I just had rehearsals canceled and don't have much else to do."

Rick unwilling to listen to her any longer and not wanting to be delayed in meeting Lisa, stopped Minmei before she could continue. "Minmei, I'm really sorry I can't cancel my plans today, let's try for another day ok? I'm sorry I really have to go. " With that he hung up the phone, grabbed the basket of food and his multitude of supplies and ran out the door. Behind him he could hear the phone ringing again and wondered whether Minmei was calling back.

Rick reached Lisa's door, put the supplies down, checked himself and then knocked on the door. He could hear some movement in Lisa's quarters and the click as she unlocked the door to him. "Hi Rick, I was wondering where you were."

"Sorry I'm a bit late Lisa, I um, overslept a bit." Lisa just smiled and asked, "so where are we going?" "It's a surprise ok?" said Rick. Lisa laughed and said "ok." She stepped out of her quarters and picked up the basket by Rick's foot. He tried to take it from her saying that he would carry it but she just waved his hand away saying he had enough to carry with all the other items he had brought. Rick picked up the remaining supplies and they walked out of the SDF-1 to the base gates.

Rick went into the gatehouse to pick up the keys to the jeep he reserved. The fatherly guard was on duty and came out of the gatehouse to point out which jeep was to take. He saw that Lisa was with him and as they waited for Rick to go to the jeep pool and bring the jeep around to the gatehouse, the fatherly guard looked at Lisa. "Bit of advice, Capt?" Lisa nodded at him, okaying him to continue. "Raised two girls myself, both with fine husbands now. My girls were both strong women, like you and told them not to settle and find someone who would have her best interests at heart. Captain Hunter is a good man, little young still, but has matured a lot. Don't throw him out of the running yet. A lot of us here on base think that he still maybe the man for you." Lisa thanked him for the advice as Rick pulled up to the gate. Take a cue from his observation of Takuya's behavior towards Lisa the night before, helped her into the jeep before putting the picnic supplies in and getting into the driver's seat. He checked to make sure she was secured before taking off.

It was a beautiful morning and not yet that hot. Lisa had put on pair of sunglasses as they started an although her hair was partially tied back it still blew about her in the wind as the jeep gained speed down the road. Rick loved having her hair lightly flick him and it made him happy to see Lisa enjoying the ride. It took them an hour to reach the destination that Rick had in mind and he had to leave the main road to reach it. He explained that during his flights he would pass by this wilderness untouched by Dolza's attack and thought that it would be a wonderful place to bring her. They stopped the jeep and carried the supplies deeper into the woods, which then opened up to a small cliff overlooking the ocean. There was a visible path, overgrown now with foliage from the lack of use, led to the beach below. "Rick it's beautiful, thank you so much for bringing me here." Knowing how much Lisa enjoyed the outdoors he was happy that he was able to do something for her for a change. They decided to setup the picnic on the bluff overlooking the ocean and that later in the afternoon they would venture down to the beach.

Rick laid down a large tarp and then on top of that two large picnic blankets to make a comfortable place for them to relax. He had also brought two portable chairs with them and a sun umbrella in case it got too hot and he didn't want Lisa's fair skin to burn in the summer sun. They placed the food under the umbrella to keep it out of the sun and they both laid down on the picnic blankets to enjoy day. The day reminded Lisa of those times in the academy when they were allowed free time and her and her friends would escape the base to reconnect with nature and the world outside. She turned to look at him on the blanket. "Thank you Rick, I needed this. It's so nice to get out of the city and off the base, I didn't realize how much I missed the outdoors."

They unpacked the picnic basket and pulled out the food that Rick had prepared. He had made sandwiches using french baguettes that he knew Lisa favored. He had prepared caprese sandwiches, a simple ham and cheese with good dijon mustard and a couple of turkey and avocado sandwiches. Rick also bought lemonade in a thermos and chocolate chip cookies. Lisa was impressed with the care that Rick had taken with planning the day.

As they sat and ate, Rick and Lisa talked about their childhood and how they both grew up on farms, although Lisa's more of an estate than a simple farm. He enjoyed hearing more about her experiences growing up and shared some more stories of him, Roy and the aerial circus. She listened attentively to his stories and laughed and asked questions. She said it was no wonder he was such a good pilot and he looked at her in surprise. "I know, I know. I'll admit it, I was so hard on you when you were a raw recruit because I was mad at you for your "old sourpuss" comment. But after I saw you fly in battle, it changed. I wasn't hard on you because I was mad, it's because I wanted you to reach your full potential. As an officer it's my job to also grow you into leaders. I should have told you that I had forgiven you for that comment a long time ago and maybe you would have taken my feedback instead of seeing it as constant criticism. It didn't help though that you still weren't good at obeying orders! But let me tell you this, Rick, you are one of the best pilots the RDF has ever had. It isn't just being a great pilot though, you are a leader Rick. You have a natural ability to lead and have the respect of many people on the base and the loyalty of your squad. They would follow you anywhere. I just want you to know that.."

Rick was pleased to hear Lisa's impromptu speech and realized how much he craved her approval. He didn't know why getting that from her, meant so much to him. He said jokingly, "Does this mean you don't see me as a boy anymore?" Lisa answered absentmindedly and unconsciously, "I haven't seen you as boy in a very long time." Lisa realizing what she had just admitted, hoped he didn't read more into that statement then he should.

"I'm sorry too Lisa, I never should have called you an old sourpuss, to be honest I didn't really get a good look at you on the TacNet and with everything going on and your yelling at me, I got defensive and just blurted that out. You don't know how stupid I felt after I ran into you and the trio at the lingerie store afterward, especially after Roy introduced us. Roy would tease me about the "old sourpuss" comment all the time, but I couldn't tell him what I really thought about you. You were strict and by the book, but damn, you're pretty. Sometimes it was hard to concentrate on the TacNet, I just wanted to stare at you."

Lisa looked at Rick in disbelief. He continued, "Since we are being honest with one another, being around you made me nervous. You were so cool and in command even when we were captured by the Zentraedi. It was hard not to be intimidated by you. I never thought that I could meet up to your expectations and even though we've become friends since those days, I've never been sure about myself around you. I didn't think it would be possible back then, but you've become on of my best friends, my confident, someone I could turn to when I needed support. Unfortunately, I don't think that I have done the same for you. I just want to say thank you and I hope to be there for you more."

Lisa had tears in her eyes after his speech and ran her hand over her eyes. She leaned over and gave Rick a big hug and said, "thank you for telling me that, you don't know how much it means to me." She wiped her tears again and smiled. Her heart felt so lightened by his words and she felt free-er than she had in a while.

After lunch the two decided to head down to the beach area to take a walk. Rick helped Lisa down the steep path to the beach. Once there, they kicked off their footwear, rolled up their pants and had a great time playing in the waves. After a couple of hours of playing in the waves and being a bit wet and tired, they decided to walk along the beach. They were meandering in silence when Rick decided that it was the time to address the unspoken question of what was next. Rick stopped and grabbed Lisa's hand, she turned to him and looked up at him. He didn't quite know where to start and was about to open his mouth when instead Lisa took the lead. "Rick, I have something to say to you too. For the longest time after Karl died, I locked everyone out of my life. I don't know how you did it, but you got under my skin and in my heart and please believe me when I say that you are one of the most important people in my life right now. I was scared to admit how much you meant to me and especially to show you how much I cared. I know now that I shouldn't have been so scared to say something and maybe we would be in a different place right now, if I had been brave enough to tell you how much you mean to me."

Rick interrupted her at this point and grabbed her other hand in his, "It's not too late Lisa, especially after all we talked about today, I think we both know that we have something between us and we shouldn't let this opportunity go."

Lisa looked at their linked hands and then slowly extracted her hands from him. Rick felt her take her hands out from his and he sighed. He felt they were so close, yet so far from one another. "Rick, please let me finish...I can't tell you how much spending today with you has meant to me and I wish that I didn't have to say this but I think you know that Takuya and I have been spending a lot of time together and I wasn't expecting to fall for him so quickly but being with him is so easy and it feels right. He asked me to return to Japan with him for a visit when he goes and I said yes Rick. I hope you understand and can support me, but I need to go, to do this for me and figure out what I want in life. I don't want to just be Capt. Hayes, I want to find me too and find what makes me happy. Can you understand this Rick?"

Rick didn't respond at first, it took him a couple of seconds to comprehend what she was saying. He understood her needing to find her way, but he wasn't ready to let her go without a fight. "I hear you Lisa, but now you need to listen to me. I'll admit, I was stupid in allowing myself to delude myself that I was still in love with Minmei, the fact is that I was never really in love with her, not the way that I love and care about you. Having you in my life means everything to me and before you go with him, I want you to know that there is another option. Me." With that, Rick pulled Lisa in towards him and kissed her as he had always fantasized. The sparks between them were instantaneous and Lisa allowed herself the pure pleasure of kissing the handsome pilot. Rick lightly licked the seam of her lips seeking entrance and was finally given access to her warm mouth. His tongue softly explored hers, while his hands roamed up and down her back. She responded to his oral explorations with her tongue and felt him gently suck on her tongue drawing it into his own mouth. She kissed him back reveling in his taste and ran her hands through his dark hair. Rick finally broke the kiss, resting his forehead on Lisa's and looking her in the eyes. Breathing heavily, he said, "You can't deny this Lisa, this thing between us, as much as you may want to run away, we belong together."

Lisa pulled herself together, she didn't want to let him know how much his kiss affected her and said quietly, "I'm sorry Rick, I do care about you, you know I do and that won't ever change. But there is something real between Takuya and I as well and I'd be doing him and I a disservice if I didn't give it a chance with him. I've already made my decision to go with him and as wonderful as that kiss was, it's not enough to change my mind."

Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing but knew how stubborn Lisa could be when she made a decision, even if in his mind it was the wrong one. He knew that if made demands on her, she would just rebel and it would drive her away. Emotionally she was like a teenage girl so unlike the tough captain she was at work. He decided the best way to show her how right he was for her was to accept her decision but do his damn best to make sure she picked him in the end. Instead of arguing, he pulled her into his arms and just held her, resting her head on his heart and letting her hear his heart beating for her. They held onto one another for a few more minutes until Lisa let him go. "It's getting late Rick, we need to pack up and get back to base."

Rick wanted more than anything to just continue holding her but knew she was right. He took her hand and they walked back to the path that lead them back to the grassy area. They packed up the remains of their picnic and the supplies and loaded the jeep ready for the return home. As much as they tried they couldn't recapture the lightness of the conversation that they had earlier in the day, they ended driving back to the base in silence. They returned just as the sun was setting and Lisa waited while Rick returned the jeep at the gatehouse. As they walked back to their quarters, they chatted about the upcoming move to the new military housing. Rick realized that Lisa would be in Japan during the time of the move and asked her what her plans would be. She said that she hadn't thought much about it but figured she could ask Claudia to help her move any personal items from her quarters on the base. Furniture would have to wait, but she had ordered a bedroom set that she would have delivered when she returned. Rick offered to help Claudia move her things and she thanked him and accepted his offer. He knew right now the best way to stay close to her was as a friend and was going to use that to keep her in his life.


	15. Chapter 15

Lisa submitted her vacation request to Gloval and was given permission for the two week leave. He called her in and questioned her plans and smiled to see his girl so happy. He was glad the she had found someone to put a bit of romance back in her life but he wished it wasn't so far away. He hoped that she wouldn't leave him too soon. Gruffly, he reminded her that she was still needed on the SDF-1 and that her vacation was to be just a vacation. She responded that she knew where her duty lay and wouldn't shirk her responsibilities. He had hoped that Rick and her would have worked things out. Individually they were strong forces within the RDF but he felt together they would have been a force to reckon with in the RDF.

The next week was busy for Lisa, she returned to her normal duties and managed the transition of her work to others during the two weeks she would be out. At night she either spent them packing up her small quarters or spending it with Takuya, picking up small gifts for Saito's in Japan, including fruit and vegetable seedlings. She didn't have much time to see Rick but they resumed their usual routine of the occasional lunch or coffee break together. Even thought they weren't together, their friends seem to notice an ease in the tension between them and wondered what happened on their date on Sunday. They knew that Lisa was going to Japan with Takuya and wondered how Rick was able to stay so calm about it.

Max caught up with him after one of their patrols and followed Rick into his office. "Hey boss, just wanted to check if you were ok." as he pulled a soda out of the mini fridge Rick kept in the office. Rick looking at some files on his desk, looked up at Max and said, "Yeah, I'm ok, why do you ask?"

"Well Miriya's a bit worried about you. Especially with Lisa going on vacation next week. You seem to be handling it ok."

Rick scoffed, "Yeah, I'm handling it alright, I may look cool on the outside, but I just want to shake that woman silly and then kiss her until she forgets that guy. I can't do anything about her trip but I'll lose her if I try to go all macho on her. I gotta act the friend, but when she returns, I don't plan to hold back. I got a plan though Max."

Rick spend the next half hour telling Max about his conversation with Claudia after Rick and Lisa's date the other day. He had gone to see Lisa's best friend and his big brother's girlfriend after returning to base and poured his heart out to her and pleaded for her help. At first Claudia had been a bit annoyed with him, telling him what he already knew that he had waited to long and Lisa had found a great man. She changed her mind and agreed to help when she saw how torn up Rick was and shared some tidbits that she had gleaned from Lisa about her relationship with Takuya so far. He was relieved to find out that they hadn't been intimate yet, but knew that would probably change during the vacation. He didn't like it but realized he had unrealistic expectations about Lisa, and remembered that she had been engaged at one time and was unlikely to still be untouched at her age. Over the week that Lisa was prepping to leave for her trip, Claudia fed him additional information about Lisa's trip.

He found out that Lisa would be staying at the Saito's home, a traditional style Japanese home. It was currently housing some of the extended family but Lisa had preferred to stay there over a hotel as she had very many happy memories of the home when she stayed there before. Rick was pleased because he felt that there would be a lack of privacy that would keep Lisa and Takuya separate.

Rick told Max that he planned to show Lisa how he was the right one for her, by helping her setup her home. He knew how much Lisa wanted a home of her own and was determined to make sure when she returned she wouldn't want to leave. He knew once Takuya was gone and Lisa returned that would be the time for him to make his move.

Before Lisa left with Takuya, he reiterated his offer to help Claudia move her items to her new home and Lisa accepted and thanked him for his help. He hugged her tightly and they both had tears in their eyes when she said goodbye. They both recalled the last time Lisa had to say goodbye to return to Earth before Dolza's Rain. He wondered what would have happened, is she hadn't left when she did and if he had been able to take her out to dinner at that time. Lisa also recalling how Rick saved her twice on that trip, put her hand on Rick's cheek, looked him in the eyes and said, "goodbye."

"Lisa, it's not goodbye, you're coming back in a few weeks, so how about I'll see you when you get back." Rick said.

Lisa just nodded as she got into the taxi that would take her into the city where she would meet Takuya for their flight to Japan.

Over the next two weeks that Lisa was gone, Rick kept busy with patrols and with moving his own stuff to his new home. He finished unpacking his meager belongings and realized that he would need to buy some furniture to furnish his new home with a bed being the first on his list. He decided to wait until Lisa to return to buy some of the other items as it would give him a chance to ask her to help him pick out furniture for his place. In the meantime he decided to stay on the SDF-1 until the bed he ordered could be delivered.

Lisa's place became available mid week and Claudia and Rick went to check out the house for her. It was a two bedroom house, given Lisa's military status and Claudia had a rough sketch layout of where Lisa wanted her furniture placed. She told them to leave the rest in the house and that she would take care of it when she returned. Claudia and Rick spent some time cleaning the house before moving Lisa's belongings in. Lisa didn't have much big furniture, just the couch and a few antique items that she had brought with her from the family home and the bookcase and bureau from her bedroom which she had them put in the spare bedroom. Her new bedroom furniture was delivered and setup by the store she had purchased it from. Rick wasn't surprised to see that her set was an antique style made modern with the linen fabric headboard with the exposed hand hammered nailheads in brass around the headboard and around the base of the bed. Claudia had just shook her head and and said it was typical. "You may not know it by looking at her, but that girl likes her bed. She could spend all day there if she could." He though the bed suited Lisa quite well especially after Claudia had put on new clean sheets and the coverlet that Lisa had bought to accompany the bed. Two small bedside tables went next to the bed with tall lamps that had lampshades that matched the coverlet. With the delivery also came drapery rods with drapes that Rick went ahead and installed them in the bedroom for her. When he finished, he looked around the room and noticed how the colors and furniture made the room warm and inviting. Satisfied he went out to help Claudia unpack some of Lisa's other belongings.

In one of the boxes, Claudia showed Rick a binder full of clippings of home furnishing and gardening ideas. He was able to discern Lisa's style and decided to surprise her by adding some trees and plants to the outside of the house and went back over the next few days to plant and water the foliage. He spent more time there than he did at his own place and more than once fell asleep on the large leather couch she had in her family room. He couldn't wait for her to return and constantly asked Claudia if Lisa had emailed her.

For Lisa, the first couple of days of the vacation was great. She had been greeted by the Saito's with much happiness and reunited with her friend and Takuya's sister Megumi. Megumi insisted the Lisa share a room with her and the two spent nights catching up on the past years. Megumi was impressed with all Lisa had been through and asked a lot of questions about the SDF-1's year in space and especially about Rick Hunter. Megumi was a miko, or shrine maiden at a local Shinto shrine, where she assists with shrine functions, perform ceremonial dances, offer fortune telling, and sell souvenirs. However, unlike other shrine maidens or priestesses, Megumi did seem to have some talent at fortune telling and was studying under another well known medium.

Lisa spent the first couple of days reuniting with the family and visiting some of the undamaged areas around town with Takuya, she was saddened by the destruction of a city she felt was a second home but was encouraged by the resiliency of the people and how they strove to rebuilt the city as quickly as possible. Takuya, responsible for his family's business had to return to work shortly after their return. Lisa went with him to the building that housed his office as well as where the cultural museum was going to reside, about a block down from Megumi's shrine. Lisa helped with the data transfer of materials from the SDF-1 and started to organize the materials that were going to be utilized by each of the classes. Problems didn't arise until Takuya's assistant, Ayumi Aiyazawa, a former student of Takuya returned from a visit with her family in the countryside.

While initially pleased to meet Lisa and was quite friendly with Lisa, once it was clear that Takuya's interest in Lisa was more than just a friend, Ayumi became quieter and more withdrawn the longer Lisa stayed. More than once, Lisa walked into Takuya's office and found the two of them either bickering or glowering at each other in silence. Ayumi had been working for the family business even before Dolza's Rain and was considered to be part of the family. She was quite capable and efficient in her duties and was considered to be quite an asset to the business. Lisa didn't quite know what to make of the situation between Takuya and Ayumi and one night while she was with Megumi, she asked about it. Megumi reluctant to tell Lisa, hemmed and hawed until Lisa gave her a look that many of the pilots on base were used to seeing, and broke down and told Lisa the story.

"We never knew that Takuya had such strong feelings for you until the SDF-1 was reported to be destroyed. The day he heard the news and that there were no survivors, he shut himself in his office and no one was able to get into see him for three days. He drank himself stupid to forget the pain, and Ayumi was the one that was able to get him out of his funk. She had only been working here for six months but they knew each other from the university. She wouldn't give up on him and helped him through the recovery. After Dolza's Rain, Takuya and Ayumi were inseparable, working together to help the people and to save the culture that they both love. We weren't sure what had happened to you, but when Oba-san reported that you were ok, Takuya was so excited and made plans to see you as soon as he could. He became much more cheerful and fun to be around, like the Taku you know. He talked about you, but not in a romantic way, more like you were a missing member of the family. Ayumi.. I think she thought that you were just that, another responsibility of Takuya's that he needed to ensure the safety of. The reality of you being here and your relationship with my brother has upset her."

Lisa was still puzzled, "but why would it matter?"

Megumi looked down at her hands and then looked at Lisa, " Ayumi's in love with Takuya. Seeing him with you is killing her, and I hate to tell you this, before you came, there were times we thought that Taku was in love with Ayumi too. I think Ayumi's age and the fact that she was his former student kept Takuya from admitting any of his feelings for her. Not that any of that matters in this new world, but the old way of thinking still has some hold in these times and you know how Taku is..."

Lisa was stunned at Megumi's admission and wondered why she didn't realize what was going on between Ayumi and Takuya and wondered what she was going to do. She felt bad because she knew what it felt like to be in love with someone who was in love was someone else, but she didn't want to let Takuya go either. Megumi asked Lisa not to reveal what she had told her about the two and Lisa agreed not to say anything. Instead over the next few days, Lisa observed Ayumi and Takuya together and could tell that there was something there, and that it wasn't as innocent as Ayumi being in love with Takuya. Lisa decided not to confront Takuya about it and continued to help Takuya with his work at the cultural center as he worked on finding other kimonos that survived, their history as well as trying to find ways to manufacture the materials in order replicate the materials needed to make the beautiful pieces of clothing.

Takuya also started talking to Lisa about her future and their future. "Misa-chan, just think about transferring earlier. Now that I found you and we are together, I don't want us to be apart longer than we need to be. Also you have done so much work here in the week that you have been here that I know you are going to be a great asset to the cultural center and the business. I remember when you were young taking those same classes that we are going to be teaching to the next generation. I think that you would make a wonderful teacher."

Lisa wasn't sure that leaving the service was a step she wanted to take. There was still so much work to be done and the RDF needed as many able bodied people to serve and protect. Lisa was also proud of the work that she had accomplished in her years of service and had a strong sense of duty and responsibility to the people on the planet. As much as Takuya pushed her, she wasn't ready to commit to making such a big change in her life yet. She let him know that she would think about it and Takuya seeing the stubborn look on Lisa's face let the issue drop.

Lisa had been there a week, when she decided to visit Megumi at the shrine that she worked at. She arrived in the early afternoon and the shrine was quite empty of visitors. Megumi was able to show Lisa around and after the tour Lisa walked that paths around the shrine enjoying the serenity of the day. Along one of the paths Lisa came across a small wooden hut. The quaintness appealed to Lisa and she approached the hut and found the sliding doors open, with an old woman sitting in the hut studying some scrolls. Lisa bowed to her not wanting to bother her and was about to walk past when the she called out to Lisa and waved her to the hut. As Lisa approached, the old woman nodded to the padded mat in front of her and Lisa knelt on the mat and the old woman asked Lisa, "Ah, you must be the friend of Megumi, ne?"

"Hai," responded Lisa, "Ogenki desu ka?" The old lady just smiled and continued, "I have been waiting for you.. something told me you would be stopping by today."

"And you are?" asked Lisa.

"I'm the fortune teller for this shrine. I've been here over 40 years and continue to help guide those onto the right path. May I see your hand?" she asked holding out her hand to Lisa.

Lisa not usually the type to believe in fortune tellers, decided to give the old woman her palm. The old woman took Lisa's hand and turned it over and traced the lines on Lisa's hand. "Ah my child, you have lived a lot in your young life already and have experienced much loss and sorrow." Lisa teared up a bit and the woman continued, "I'm sorry for that, but you have a long life line and see you finding much happiness. Much of that happiness is connected to this." The old woman ran her finger up through Lisa's palm and up through her little finger. "To what, I don't understand," asked Lisa confused.

"Each person has in life many people that affect and shape the person that they are and become, but finding the one person connected to the end of this red string changes everything for a person" said the old woman.

Lisa knowing the old stories of the red string of fate asked, "and have I found mine?"

The old woman nodded, "but it's not who you think it is, your string is not tied to one that is here. The string is currently tangled and the one whom your fate is tied to is someone who has aided you greatly in the past. He is also not waiting for the string to untangle on its own, but he is pulling quite insistently on his end to help break the current entanglement."

"Rick, you mean Rick, not Takuya?" asked Lisa.

"I do not know his name, I see a young warrior with dark hair and blue eyes surrounded by many many stars and planets. I have never seen this before but feel that this man will be the one by your side through all your journeys." finished the old woman.

Lisa fumbled with her phone in her bag, brought it out and and pulled up a picture of her and Rick and showed to the old woman. "Is this who you see?"

The old woman looked at the photo and said, "I cannot see faces that clearly, but the hair and the eyes are the same and the feeling I get when looking at this picture is also the same."

Lisa looking at the photo of her and Rick, asked, "and if I ignore the string?"

The old woman laughed, "You can try and ignore it if you want to, but it has its own way of untangling itself"

Lisa didn't like that answer, "I don't like not having a choice, I need to make my own path."

"Hai, hai, this string doesn't mean that you can't make your own decisions and choices, its just that at the end, this person is destined to be in your life. It may be easier to accept that and see where life takes you." advised the woman.

Lisa got up and thanked her for her time and left a donation in the box. She had a lot of think about and spend the remainder of the day roaming around returning to the Saito's home just before dinner. It was quiet when she returned and she slipped to the room she shared with Megumi to lay down a bit. Megumi, coming home soon after Lisa did, saw her friend asleep on the futon and decided not to bother her. At dinner she informed Takuya that Lisa was resting and wouldn't be joining them.

Lisa awoke a little after 9pm, many of the family members had gathered in the living room before retiring for the night. Lisa not wanting to talk to anyone yet, decided to head to the library to find something to read. She noticed a light in the library and when she approached, Ayumi came out, noticed Lisa and bowed in greeting. Ayumi was about to walk past when Lisa decided to stop her, "Ayumi, if you have time, I'd like to speak to you if I may." Ayumi looked at her with a sullen face and then nodded and walked back into the library. Lisa followed her and the two women sat on the pillows on the mat.

Not quite knowing where to start, the two woman looked at each other. Lisa saw in front of her a lovely young woman about 24 years of age, with clear pale skin, short black hair in a pixie cut and bright eyes who defiantly glared at Lisa. Lisa sighed, it wasn't going to be easy to make peace with this girl and decided to just plunge forward. "Ayumi, we haven't really gotten a chance to know one another and I've noticed that you seem to be somewhat resentful of me being here. I would like to become your friend, but I don't know what I did to upset you."

Ayumi was quiet but the defiant look in her eyes were gone. She looked away from Lisa and said, "You wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand?"Lisa asked her. Ayumi just sighed, "Lisa-san, you wouldn't get it, you are just so, so perfect. I understand why Takuya-san is in love with you,"she mumbled.

Surprised, Lisa laughed, "Me, perfect? Who ever told you such a horrible lie?"

"Aye, Lisa-san, you know it's the truth or it is not far from the truth. Takuya and Megumi told me all about you before you got here and I was so excited to meet someone like you. I heard about how you graduated at the top of your class in school, have a high rank in the military, traveled in space, been captured by aliens and survived and on top of all that you are beautiful too. You've been here only a week and yet you have accomplished so much with helping Takuya on the cultural center and I wonder if he is going to need me anymore." said Ayumi.

Lisa trying to break the ice with Ayumi and relate to her more, gave Ayumi some examples of Lisa's less than perfect moments, including sending a civilian into battle during the initial Zentraedi attack and the dropped video camera during the escape from the Zentraedi. Lisa also tried to reassure Ayumi about her position and work at the cultural center. "Of course he's going to need you, I'm only here for another couple of days before I need to return to New Macross, Taku's going to need someone like you to make sure his project stays on track. I've noticed how good you are at your job and I can see how he depends on you to keep things moving forward. He's going to need you to make this cultural center a success." argued Lisa.

"That's only until you come back! After you and Taku get married and you leave your position, where is that going to leave me?"cried Ayumi.

"Wait, what? I think you are moving a bit fast here, I don't think that those types of plans have been made yet and I haven't made any type of decision regarding leaving the RDF anytime soon." said Lisa.

"But it's what Takuya wants..."said Ayumi.

"But what about what I want?" retorted Lisa. Lisa sighed, this wasn't getting her anywhere and decided to get to the heart of the issue. "Why do you care so much Ayumi about what Takuya wants..."

Ayumi avoided Lisa's gaze. "Are you in love with him Ayumi?.. I've noticed the two of you together at times and I wondered if there was something going on between you two before I came." Ayumi had her head towards the door, not answering Lisa. Lisa sat for a few minutes waiting for a response, and with none coming, decided that it wasn't worth her time to stay. She stood up and started walking to the door, when Ayumi said, "Wait..." Lisa turned back around and looked at the woman sitting in down. Not looking at Lisa, Ayumi started talking, "Takuya-san was my sensei in college. All the girls had a crush on him, but he was never the type to pay us any attention. After I had graduated and was looking for a job, I ran into Takuya-san after a bad job interview. I was surprised he remembered me and he took me to a nearby cafe and listened to me as I explained how I bombed the interview. He was quite sympathetic and recalled some of the work that I had done in college and asked if I would consider working for him. He needed an assistant with his teaching and the business and gave me a job. I hadn't been working for him long when the SDF-1 disappeared. Takuya was a wreck, I didn't really know why at first but knew I wanted to help him through whatever he was going through. They spoke of you and the way that they spoke of you made me believe that you were a beloved sister that had been lost, not the love of Takuya's life... I still didn't realize that until you came back with him."

Lisa didn't know how to respond and asked, "When did you fall in love with him?"

"I think I've always been in love with him. Like I said, he's was my sensei in college and had a bit of crush on him, but it wasn't until he helped me come into my own by working with him, that I fell in love. I didn't want to say anything to him, he's older than me, and so much more accomplished than me. I haven't really achieve much and I don't think that I can match him, but I want him to be happy and I wanted to be the one to make him happy. There are times when I thought he felt the same way, but when he came back with you, I knew that it wasn't meant to be. I hope you don't hate me for telling you this..."

"No, no, not at all,"said Lisa numbly. She wasn't quite expecting all this and really didn't know how to deal with the situation. She knew then that she had to talk to Takuya seriously about all of this. It was a bit overwhelming for her and it made her head hurt thinking about. Lisa thanked Ayumi for being honest and direct with her and asked Ayumi one last question. "Does he know how you feel about him?

"No, I didn't have the courage to tell him so directly. There have been a couple times when we have gotten close as we traveled around the countryside looking for salvageable items, and he might have guessed but no, I haven't told him." Lisa didn't know how to feel, in many ways she related to Ayumi and her inability to tell Takuya how she felt about him, but Lisa also wasn't sure she wanted Ayumi to tell him how she felt. Lisa knew that Takuya cared about her, but they hadn't been as close as they had been when they were in New Macross, she thought it was because Taku was no longer on vacation, and had to return to work and staying at the family home wasn't conducive to having any real privacy, but maybe Ayumi had something to do with that as well. Lisa had a restless night because of Ayumi's admission and decided that she needed to talk to Takuya about it and ensure that he didn't reciprocate Ayumi's feelings.


	16. Chapter 16

A couple of days passed before Lisa and Takuya were able to really talk. They did spend a lot of time together working and with the family. One day Takuya came home early and grabbed Lisa's hand and pulled her up from the kitchen table she was sitting at having tea with Takuya's mom and aunt. "Excuse me," he said to his mom and aunt, "I would like to take Misa-chan out for a change" and looked at Lisa, "Gomenasai, Misa-chan, we haven't really had that much time together, and I know you leave in a few days. Let's get out of here, okay?"

Lisa happy to spend some time alone with Takuya, grabbed her purse and ran out the door to meet Takuya outside. As they walked down to the downtown area, Takuya asked Lisa about how her visit had been so far. Lisa had been happy to return to a place where she had so many happy memories, but missed her friends back home. While the break from her duties had done a world of good for her, she was eager to get back home as well. Takuya was a bit disappointed to hear that but knew he hadn't done a great job with showing Lisa what life with him could be like. He knew he had to spend more time with her but it was hard with all the responsibilities he had. Lisa let him know that she understood as she many times had the same issue. They reached the waterfront and leaned on the railing overlooking the water and talked about a number of topics. Takuya pointed out a small Ferris wheel located at one end of the pier and decided to take a ride. There were not a lot of people out and about and as the sun was setting, Lisa and Takuya reached the top of the Ferris wheel, where it stopped for a few minutes to allow them to enjoy the setting sun. "It's beautiful isn't it, Takuya, I can't believe there was a time I never thought I would see the sun rise or set again. I'll need to remember that every day is a gift."

Takuya thought Lisa looked absolutely beautiful with the colors of the setting sun reflecting on her face. He pulled out his phone and took a photo of her and she turned to him and smiled. "What was that for?" she asked laughingly. "Mi-chan, I just want to always remember you like that. Smiling and full of hope and promise. Seeing you so happy, makes me happy." With that he leaned in and kissed Lisa. Lisa enjoyed the kiss as she did all of the kisses, but in the back of her head, she was reminded of the old woman at the shrine and what she had been told earlier. Takuya sensing the change in Lisa's thoughts as the kiss became less passionate, asked her what was wrong.

"Oh nothing, it's just something that someone said to me the other day" said Lisa. Takuya frowned, "Did someone say something that upset you Misa-chan? I know everyone is happy to have you here. Megumi asked if you have to leave and asked me to persuade you to stay longer. I know that would make me happy too." Lisa waved her hands in front of her, "No, no, it's nothing like that.. it was something the fortune teller said to me." Takuya just laughed, "Yes, she's good at what she does. I wouldn't normally believe some of those fortune tellers, but she's been at that shrine for a long time and have heard that she's good at what she does and may be the real thing." Lisa asked if he had ever gone to her and he shook his head negatively. "No, I haven't but I know a lot of the women in the family have, they say she's a good matchmaker." He looked at Lisa thoughtfully wondering what the fortune teller told her. He pressed Lisa for details, but she just shook her head no and said, "It was nothing important."

The Ferris wheel had finally stopped and the two disembarked from the little cabin. It was getting dark and they decided to grab a bite to eat instead of returning home. They found a small quiet restaurant that served excellent home style japanese food and sat in a booth in a corner enjoying their time together. Takuya approached Lisa again about her plans after her return to New Macross. She looked down and said quietly, "I'm not sure yet, if I am ready to give up everything yet to settle here Takuya." He nodded, as he understood the difficult position she was in, but as the head of the household and of the business, he couldn't make the move to New Macross instead.

As they were walking home there was a commotion outside of the house, Takuya's mom, aunt and, sister and Ayumi were outside arguing. There was a set of luggage outside the house and Takuya's mom was pulling on Ayumi's arm. Takuya's aunt saw Lisa and Takuya approaching and ran up to Takuya. "Taku, Taku.. thank goodness you got here, please come and talk some sense into that girl. She says that she wants to leave.. you know she doesn't have anywhere to go...tell her to stay."

"What's going on here, Megumi, Ayumi, what's the meaning of this?" Takuya asked pointing to the luggage, "who's trying to leave?" Megumi, burst into tears, "Ah, onii-chan, you are so baka, Ayumi wants to leave us. Tell her she can't go." Takuya still not quite sure what was going on, grabbed the luggage by the handles and said, "everyone in the house, let's not talk about it out here. What will the neighbors say..." Ayumi stubbornly wouldn't move and Takuya gave the luggage to Megumi. "Bring this in the house, Megumi, I will talk to Ayumi." he turned to Lisa, "I'm sorry can you go inside too?"

Lisa nodded and helped Megumi bring in the luggage, before she closed the door to the house, she took one last look at Takuya and Ayumi who were standing in front of the house not looking at one another. She could hear Takuya ask Ayumi in a low calm voice what was going on and Lisa knew that Ayumi was going to confess to Takuya.

Megumi and Lisa returned the luggage to Ayumi's room and then went back to their own room. "Gomenasai, Misa-chan... I hope that you can forgive us." said Megumi. Lisa pretending not to understand looked at Megumi with a questioning look. Megumi sighed. "I didn't tell you everything the other night, when we talked about Ayumi and Takuya." Lisa gave her friend a frustrated sigh and said, "Megumi, you need to tell me what else do I need to know." Megumi pushed out her lower lip and bit it before answering. "Misa-chan, like I told you the other day, we didn't know how much Takuya cared about you. The family they had hopes that Takuya and Ayumi would get married. It's nothing against you, it's just that we just felt that they belonged together because she's what he needs. It's hard to explain but for some reason Takuya can open up to her in a way that he doesn't with other people, even with you Misa-chan. We never expected him to come back with you or that you would even consider coming back here." At that point there was a knock on the wooden door frame and the door slid back. Takuya and Megumi's mom, stood there and bowed to Lisa. "Misa-chan, can I talk to you?" Lisa nodded and followed Mrs. Saito to the family room.

Mrs. Saito poured Lisa a cup of tea and the two women sat down. Lisa waited for Mrs. Saito to start. "Misa-chan, first I want you to know how happy we are to have you back in our lives. We missed you so much when you left us to go to boarding school. I know you probably don't know this, but we tried to convince your father to leave you with us instead of sending you away, but he said he was worried you wouldn't meet your full potential if you stayed with us. He wanted you to grow to be a strong, independent woman and I know he was so proud of you when you were made the First Officer of the SDF-1. I know that there is still much you are going to achieve in your life." Lisa murmured her thanks for the kind words but knew this isn't what Mrs. Saito wanted to talk to her about. She studied the woman that had given her a family when she needed one and saw the love and concern in her eyes. "Misa-chan, I think of you as one of my children and would love nothing more than you and Takuya to become a family."

"There's a "but" there isn't there?"asked Lisa.

"No, no Misa-chan, I think that you and Takuya could have a wonderful life together, but in the long run, do you think you two would be happy? I've watched you two over the last two weeks and while I can see there is great affection towards one another and attraction, I don't feel that either of you are truly in love with the other. You and Takuya are so much alike, so smart, so strong. While it looks as if you compliment one another, I wonder if in the end, whether or not you would be happy."

"What do you want me to do then?" asked Lisa. Mrs. Saito leaned over and hugged Lisa, "I just want you to look into your heart and take it where it leads you,whether its here or somewhere else, whether it's scary or uncertain, follow that path and it will take you to your heart's desire."

Lisa still holding onto Mrs. Saito, nodded her head. She knew now what she had known all along but didn't want to admit. That it didn't matter what was going on between Takuya and Ayumi, Lisa knew deep down she wouldn't have been heartbroken if things didn't work out between herself and Takuya. She could feel the invisible red string pulling on her back to the right path. She knew that she had to return home and admit her feelings for the brash young pilot and see where it led her. Mrs. Saito left Lisa to her thoughts and she was still sitting there when Takuya poked his head into the room.

"How's Ayumi?" she asked. "She's okay, she's back in her room, going to sleep." Takuya replied. "Do you want to talk about it?" Lisa asked. Takuya sighed it had been a long day for uncomfortable talks but knew that he had to have one with Lisa as well. "Yeah, maybe it's best that we do..."as he sat down across from her. Lisa poured a cup of tea for him and said, "I think I need to go back to Macross." Before Takuya could say anything else, Lisa continued, "There's someone there, someone I think that I care about and I think I need to see where that path takes me. I never really gave it a shot or put any effort into it but if I do, I have a feeling it could be wonderful." Takuya sipping his tea, didn't answer, he always wanted the best for Lisa and had seen the way that she talked about the pilot even though she tried to play it down or hide it. It was obvious that the two had a connection and Takuya had thought that her visit to Japan would lessen that bond. He had to ask her, "And what about me Mi-chan?"

"Oh Takuya, I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you in this, I hope you know that.. you've shown me so much in these last couple weeks and helped me reclaim my life, I have so much to thank you for. If it weren't for you coming back into my life, I think I don't think I would have been brave enough to try and make a change. I know now that I can't always hide behind my duties and responsibilities and that I need to learn to also be who I am as well.. I think that you are also learning this kind of lesson?"

Takuya looked at Lisa and nodded his head, "Mi-chan, you have always been so bright and intuitive, it's one of the many things I love about you. You are right, as much as I can see us being together and having a future with one another, I do admit that I also care about Ayumi more than I had thought." Takuya stopped at that point, not wanting to talk about it any more as he didn't want to hurt Lisa, but she just smiled and put her hand on his and said, "I'd like to hear about it..."

The two friends settled down to their tea and Takuya told Lisa about how he had found Ayumi after her failed job interview and while initially there wasn't an attraction, her cheerfulness, optimism and enthusiasm for the work that they did made him appreciate the young woman and the way that she was able to help me forget the stress of the day and appreciate life and not focus on business all the time. He admitted that there had been times when there had been "moments" between them but that nothing physical happened as he still considered her an employee. Seeing her unhappiness the last couple of days coupled with the fact that she was upset enough to want to leave the Saito household, make Takuya realize that he also couldn't let her go. "I'm sorry Misa-chan, for all of this... when I saw you again, I just forgot about everything else and all those unrequited feelings I had for you came rushing back. I felt that I had to take the opportunity to see if there was something there. I wasn't sure of my feelings for Ayumi and when you showed interest in returning my feelings, I got a bit carried away too. I hope that you can forgive me."

"Maybe we are just too much alike, Takuya.."mused Lisa. "We both have responsibilities that require us to give our all, maybe we need to be with people that can help us remember to enjoy life too and not just work all the time." Takuya just nodded in agreement and said, "So where does this leave us Misa-chan?"

"If it's okay with you, I hope that you could say that we are still great friends and that while we love each other, we are not "in love" with one another..." Lisa looked at Takuya and he smiled at her, "Okay, I can accept that, but I want you to know that it was really hard to not go further with you." Lisa blushed and hit Takuya on the arm The two went to bed happy to know that things were resolved with them at that they knew the path that they needed to follow.

Lisa spent the remaining couple days buying souvenirs and gifts for her friend in New Macross and helping Ayumi with the materials that they transferred over from the SDF-1. Things between Takuya and Ayumi were not settled but the tension seemed to be gone and Lisa and Ayumi built a friendship that would last a lifetime. Lisa also spent time hanging out with Megumi who gave her a few gifts including her old sailor school uniform. Megumi giggled when Lisa tried on the uniform for fun. It had been a bit big for Lisa back then, but now the skirt was much too tight around the waist and the sailor top which was worn loose back then, fitted her more closely, showing her curves. They laughed themselves silly and Megumi who was handy with a needle and thread, quickly was able to expand the waist of the skirt to fit Lisa properly. Megumi also found a old uniform of her's that fit as well and the two ended up having Megumi's mom take a few photos of them together with the uniforms as they did when they were children. Megumi also captured a very cute photo of Lisa in her school uniform on Lisa's phone and while Lisa wasn't looking, she messaged the picture to the pilot she knew Lisa was interested in and texted, "sshh.. this is Misa-chan's friend, thought you would like this...she's coming home soon.."


	17. Chapter 17

Rick had just finished watering the plants at Lisa's place when he heard his phone beep. He had been spending the last two weeks working on Lisa's garden and hoped she liked it when she got back. Everyone on base noticed how Rick seemed to just mope around on base while Lisa was gone, similar to the time when Lisa had been sent back to Earth, The only time he felt happiness was when he was at her new place, surrounded by her things and working on her garden. Everyone hoped that Lisa would be back soon as Rick wasn't much fun to be around, but they also worried about what would happen if she did return engaged or still in a relationship with Takuya. Rick put the hose away and picked up his phone. He smiled when he saw the text was from Lisa. They had texted few times since she had been gone, but the texts didn't say much, just more of a reminder to her that he was going to be waiting for her when she got back to New Macross. Rick's smile got a lot bigger, when he saw the picture attached to Megumi's message and wondered what it meant to have that photo sent to him. It gave him some hope that all was not lost and he also hoped that Lisa was bringing that uniform back with her when she returned.

It was two more days before Lisa's return and Claudia asked whether Rick would be willing to pick Lisa up at the airport, Claudia mentioned that Lisa was going to just catch a cab home but thought that it might be better if Rick greeted her on her return. Rick asked whether he had any other news and Claudia not wanting to divulge what Lisa had shared with her over email, implied that things with Lisa and Takuya were far from being settled. She didn't want to tell him that Lisa basically told her what had happened with her and Takuya and Ayumi. Rick felt hopeful and coupled with the photo he received, was quite looking forward to Lisa's return. The day Lisa returned was quite hot and the small airport was crowded as there were many flights coming in that day. He saw the small jet plane carrying Lisa land and Rick could feel his heart start thumping faster in anticipation of seeing her. As she deplaned, and walked toward the terminal, Rick could see a lightness in her step. He could tell the vacation had been good for her and it gave him joy to see Lisa so happy. She entered the airport and as she wasn't expecting anyone, she headed over to the baggage area to wait for her bags. He caught up to her as she reached the baggage carousel. "Lisa!" he called out. Lisa lost in her own thoughts didn't register her name being called until Rick called out her name again. She turned around thinking that she wasn't hearing what she was hearing and excited to see Rick striding towards her. She ran the few steps remaining towards him and he pulled her into a great big hug. "Oh I missed you so much Lisa!"

Lisa hugged him back and clung to him while Rick held onto the woman that had become to mean so much to him. He stroked her hair and said, "C'mon let's get your bags and get out of here, there is something I want to show you." Rick tried to keep things light with Lisa knowing that it wasn't the right time to approach her about her visit with Takuya. They picked up the two heavy suitcases that Lisa had returned with and loaded them onto the jeep Rick had borrowed from the base. As they drove Lisa could tell they were not headed to the SDF-1 and asked, "where are we going?"

"You'll see," was the cryptic reply. Lisa smiled when she recognized the gate that they pulled up to and showed their ID. The gate was the new entrance to the military housing and Lisa became quite giddy asking Rick to drive faster once she realized he was taking her to her new home. Rick finally pulled into the cul-de-sac where Lisa's house was located and helped unload the jeep. He handed her the key Claudia had kept for her and walked with Lisa as she entered her new home. Lisa looked around excitedly from the entrance to the living room and into the kitchen. She ran into the bedroom to take a look at the new bed she had purchased and danced around excitedly looking over her small home. She knew Claudia could not have done this all herself and thanked Rick for his help. "Wait, I have a surprise for you Lisa." Lisa looked at him excitedly and bounced up down on her toes in anticipation. Rick pulled out a clean bandana from his pocket and said, "First, I have to tie this around you eyes. No peeking!" Lisa agreed and Rick rolled the bandana into a blindfold and covered her eyes. Once covered, he waved his hands in front of her to see if she could see. Satisfied, that Lisa couldn't peek out, he led her towards the sliding glass door and helped her step down to the patio. As he pulled off the bandana from her head, he said, "I hope you like it." Lisa opened her eyes to see the backyard. The basic backyard was a small patio with a small patch of grass, but Lisa's backyard facing the woods in the back, allowed for a bit more space at the edges of the yard. Lisa gasped at what had been done while she had been gone. Rick had planted fruit trees and put in some additional bushes and flowers around the edges of the grassy area giving the backyard a much cozier feel. She could see solar torches were interspersed around the garden that also noticed that there wee additional twinkle lights installed. He had cleared a side patch of dirt and and used a rototiller to create a vegetable garden for her. Lisa was amazed at the amount of work that had been put in by him and couldn't help put her hand to her mouth when saw everything that had been done. "It's perfect, Rick, how did you know..." Rick just smiled and said, "I know what you like Lisa. You've told me so many times what you wanted, I just wasn't smart enough to hear it until now."

Lisa turned to the man standing next to her and decided to surprise him as well. "I love it Rick, thank you so much..."and with that she leaned up to him and slid her hand around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Rick was stunned to find Lisa's lips pressed against his, decided to enjoy the moment and kissed her back. They two kissed for a few minutes enjoying the warmth and comfort of one another and the unspoken promise that the kisses seem to hold. As they broke the kiss, they stared at each other breathing heavily. For Lisa it felt nice to be able to enjoy kissing Rick without any guilt or fear and it showed in the way that she initiated the kiss with him, for Rick he could feel the passion that Lisa kept under tight control and wondered what it would be like when she finally let loose. The two admired the garden a little more and discussed what other things that Lisa wanted to have done there. Rick was happy that Lisa included him in her plans and acted like he would be there to enjoy it with her. Finally the two went back into the small house where Rick had prepared a meal for the two of them and hoped that they could clear the air between them.

Lisa saw Rick in a totally different light after all the things that he had done for her and hugged him a few times to express her gratitude. Rick realized for the first time that he had really reciprocated the love and care that Lisa had given him over the last year and a half and vowed never to take advantage of her generosity. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been to see that all those little things that Lisa had done for him was because she loved him and wanted to be happy and he wanted to do the same thing for her.

After dinner, Lisa and Rick sat on the couch sipping some cold barley tea that Lisa brought back with her. Lisa got up and disappeared to her room and returned a few moments later with a large shopping bag. She said a bit shyly, "I got you a few presents, I hope you like them." Rick not expecting to receive anything from her, asked her to come and show what she had gotten him. Lisa excitedly pulled out the first box and gave it to Rick. In it he found a few model aircraft toys, including one that looked exactly like his old Mockingbird and a transformable Veritech fighter. Rick loved them all and couldn't wait to show Max the different variety of planes and mecha that Lisa had brought him. He also received a beautiful dark blue silk robe that was embroidered with a fighting dragon on the back. Lisa also brought him back a variety of different Japanese style snacks as she knew Rick always loved to try different foods and she knew he kept a huge stash of snacks in his office on the base. After talking about the gifts and snacks Lisa brought for him, Rick decided to ask about the rest of her trip and get to the heart of the matter.

"Lisa, sounds like you had a a really good trip but I'd like to hear about what you decided in regards to "your friend". I mean you seem to be really happy to see me and I'd like it to mean that you aren't seeing him, but we've had enough misunderstanding in the past and I want to be clear where I stand." Rick got a little worried when Lisa stood up and walked to the glass patio door and looked out. She stood there for a few minutes in contemplation, Rick came up behind her and wrapped one arm around her pulling her into his embrace, their images reflected back to them on the glass window. Lisa turned around in his arms and put her arms around Rick's neck and snuggled her head into his chest and said, "Takuya and I decided it would be better if we remained friends..." Hearing those words, Rick felt a swell of happiness but still felt a bit worried. "Are you ok with that Lisa?" wondering who's decision it was and whether or not Lisa was hurt by what ever had happened in Japan. "No worries, Rick, I'm ok. In fact, I am better than ok. For too long I shut myself up in my own pain and worries and didn't let anyone else in. Even with you, my fears of rejection or worrying whether Minmei would come back into your life and take you away kept me from moving forward and now I know that it's not ok for me to shut out life and that even with the good and the bad, I have to speak up for what I want and not be scared to follow that path."

Still holding her, Rick asked in a low voice, "So what is it you want Lisa?"

Lisa looked up at Rick, green eyes shining and said, "I want you Rick Hunter, I want to see if what we have is real and if we can be more than friends. I love you more than anyone else in the world and I want a chance to prove to you that I'm the one for you."

Rick bent down and kissed Lisa with all the love he had for her in his heart. He broke the kiss and held her close and whispered in her ear, "I love you too Lisa, and I want to be the man for you. I know that I have much to prove to you too but I hope you will give me that chance." Lisa nodded her head and wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes. "I want to take it slow though Rick, if that is ok with you, it's been an interesting last couple of weeks and I think we will both need to adjust from being just a friend to being more than friends, if you know what I mean."

Rick laughed and said, "Yeah, but it's going to hard keeping my hands off of you after the photo your friend sent me..." Lisa looked confused, "What photo, what are you talking about?" Rick just laughed some more and pulled out his cell phone and showed her the photo that Megumi had sent from her phone. Lisa grabbed the phone with her hand, "Oh my god, I didn't even realize she took that, it's it's not what it looked like at all... Rick Hunter don't you dare show that picture to anyone." Rick grabbed the phone back from Lisa before she could delete it from his phone and grabbed her around the waist when she tried to get it back from him. "Shhhh, calm down, I wouldn't show anyone such a picture of my cute girlfriend, that picture is for my eyes only." Lisa blushed and Rick continued, "and yes I said girlfriend, like I said no more misunderstandings between us, even if we take it slow, we are now in a relationship and you are my girlfriend. I want everyone to know that the most beautiful, smartest and feared officer is mine." Rick couldn't help but add, "Anyway it wouldn't have mattered if you had deleted the photo I already saved it to my files so I will always have a copy... You didn't happen to bring that school uniform back with you did you?" Lisa just pushed him away and Rick pulled her back in for a kiss. It was late when he left her place that night. Lisa promised to come to his place the next day and go shopping with him for some of the items he needed for his place.

The next day as promised Lisa and Rick went shopping for furniture and kitchen items that Rick needed. He groaned at the amount of items that Lisa thought he needed and wanted to know why he couldn't just eat at her house everyday which got him a dirty look. After purchasing and arranging for delivery of the items, the two returned to Lisa's house to wait for their friends to come for a visit. Lisa had purchased a patio table with chairs so that she could entertain outdoors and it was setup in her backyard when they returned. Sammie, Kim and Vanessa were the first to arrive, followed by Max, Miriya and baby Dana. Claudia arrived last with Admiral Gloval who reminded them that they were all supposed to report to duty the next day. Lisa greeted them and welcomed them to her home and they all showed appreciation for the work that Rick did on her backyard. They all noticed the way that Rick seemed to hover around Lisa and how he couldn't seem to keep from touching her in some way. It wasn't until Lisa had distributed all the gifts that she had gotten her friends that Sammie asked about what was going on between her and Capt. Hunter. Rick who was coming out from the house with a new pitcher of iced tea waited to see what Lisa had to say. "Well, um, ah, Rick and I decided that we were going to try dating..."stammered Lisa. Rick interjected, "That's not quite right. Lisa is my girlfriend, we are not just dating." Everyone congratulated the two and made some sort of comment, including, "it's about time", "wow you two are so slow", "we knew it was just a matter of time". It was Miriya who confessed she was confused about why they weren't getting married, which made Lisa blush even harder. Claudia explained to Miriya that not all relationships end in marriage and that Rick and Lisa needed to make sure was the right thing for them. Miriya just looked at them like they were crazy and said, "I don't understand you microns, if you have love for one another and it's right why not just marry and be done with it." Lisa just looked at Rick, who took her hand and kissed it in reassurance.

As Lisa and Rick said goodbye to their friends and before Rick left for his own house, Admiral Gloval pulled Rick aside. "I hope you don't have any hard feelings about what I said to you the other week, I want you to know that I am happy for the two of you, you two are some of my best officers and deserve this, but Hunter, if I hear of you doing anything to hurt my girl, you will regret it very much." Rick looking at Lisa as she started to clean up the party, said, "I'll do my best to make her happy sir." The Admiral shook Rick's hand and got into the jeep with Claudia to return to the SDF-1.


	18. Chapter 18

This chapter contains a mature love scene between Lisa and Rick, please do not read, if this is not your cup of tea.

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The Trio's good news about the new couple spread rapidly through the base and Monday had not ended, when Rick and Lisa felt that everyone on base had congratulated them on their new relationship. The pilots that morning had given Rick a standing ovation and some high fives for being the one brave enough to take on Lisa, while others made cracks about the fact that he had managed to bag two of the hottest chicks around. Rick just glared at the pilot who made the joke and the fierceness of his glare warned the others that this new relationship was not something to joke around about.

For Rick being with Lisa felt like coming home, it just felt so right and Rick was happier than he had been in a long time. He felt confident in Lisa's love and enjoyed being able to spend time with her and to be able to hug and kiss her as he wanted to. Lisa, who was now openly able to demonstrate her love as well, made sure that Rick felt loved and cared for and he commented to Max, that he didn't understand how Lisa had time to do all the little things that she did for him and attend to her increasing responsibilities at work. Rick reciprocated by stepping up and being a man worthy of the highly respected officer He courted her like she deserved, taking her out on dates and really getting to know her. Lisa shared with him the full history of her relationship with Karl Riber and Takuya as well as her own feelings for him. Rick couldn't believe how blinded he had been by Minmei to not see how much she cared, he now knew that he would do anything for Lisa to feel secure in his love. Rick spent a lot of time with Lisa in her more comfortable and spacious home but returned every night to his own home. Lisa had been serious when she had said that she wanted to take it slow, but Rick was getting a little frustrated with the pace. Their duties did not allow for them to spend that much time together, but when they did, they spent much of the time kissing and touching one another, however Lisa had not allowed him to go further than that. She would stop him once his explorations reached a certain point and he didn't know how to take it to the next level with her as she wasn't like the other girls he had been with while in the aerial circus. It wasn't something that he could talk about with Max as Max assumed like everyone else on the base that Rick and Lisa were already intimate with one another.

Claudia aware of what the issue was, decided to talk to Lisa about it after she saw the way Rick followed Lisa with his eyes, similar the hungry look Roy used to get in his eyes. "Honey, you got to tell him, the man has been pretty patient with you." advised Claudia. "Patient? I think he can wait a bit longer given what he put me through the last year and half," joked Lisa. "Seriously, though, I just wanted the time to be right, and for it not to be rushed. We've been working so much lately with all these Zentraedi incidents that it's hard to find the time to just really be together. I've waited this long already, I just want it to be perfect." Claudia gave Lisa a hug, "don't wait too long sweetie, a pilot's life can be day by day and you don't want to miss any opportunity that you can. Take it from me." Lisa hugged her friend back, and thanked her for her wise advice. Lisa decided to look at the schedules and see if Rick and her had any downtime together and noticed that they were both off on Friday and Saturday the following week. It was time for her to put some plans in place. Rick also checking their schedule also noticed that they both had those two days off and decided to ask Lisa to dinner that Friday night. Normally Rick would have jumped at the chance to spend all day with Lisa on Friday as well, let her know that he had some things to take care of that day and would pick her up at 6pm for an early dinner. Lisa agreed as she wanted to spend the day prepping her place and getting ready for her date.

Lisa was ready to go when Rick came to pick her up. She was wearing a coral sundress that emphasized the color of her eyes and enhanced her newly highlighted hair. The sleeveless dress showed off her toned arms and the skirt showed off her long legs. Lisa wore a pair of heeled sandals that made them look even longer. Seeing the awed look on Rick's face made Lisa giddy inside and she decided to tease him a little bit. Leaving him in the door she turned to get her purse from the couch and instead of walking over and picking it up, she walked to the couch and leaned over to pluck her purse from it's spot, giving Rick a look at her from the backside, with the skirt coming up a bit, showing even more of her long legs. As she stood up, she thought she heard a bit of a growl coming from Rick, but she just walked back to him, looked up and smiled at him as if she didn't hear anything, "Ready to go?" Rick who had been fantasizing a bit at what he just saw and wondering if Lisa knew what she was doing to him, stammered, "Yes, let's go."

Rick led Lisa to the cab that he had ordered as he didn't want to take her in a military jeep into town. The ride was not long and during the short ride, Lisa questioned Rick about his day and commented that it looked like he had gotten a haircut. "Yeah, I did, it was getting a little too long," as he ran his hand through his hair. "I like it, it looks good, by the way, you look good today too," and kissed Rick softly on the jawline. Rick getting a little more aroused by her actions, met the taxi driver's eyes in the rearview mirror, who gave Rick a nod of the head in appreciation of the lovely lady he had with him. Rick brought Lisa to the french restaurant that he had wanted to take her to earlier and the two had a lovely dinner. The two were given a private small booth in the back with soft candles on the table and good view of the room. Soft music, played and Rick was happy to have Lisa sit so close to him during the meal. They dined on an appetizer of of avocado and frisee salad, Lisa opted for a lamb dish while Rick had a beautifully prepared filet mignon. For dessert they shared a chocolate souffle, feeding one another the yummy dessert. The closeness of the booth allowed them to give each other some soft caresses and kisses during the meal and by the end of dinner Rick was a little on end and couldn't wait to take Lisa home. Rick rushed through paying the check and had a hard time keeping his hands off of her during the taxi ride home. Lisa didn't help as she leaned in and cuddled next to Rick on the car ride home. There was little conversation the short ride home and Rick asked Lisa, who's home they should return to. Lisa just smiled and gave the taxi driver her address.

Rick was a bit calmer as they reached Lisa's home and followed her into the house. Lisa went into the kitchen to get some water for the two of them and Rick started to play some slow songs from Lisa's sound system. He removed the coat and tie he wore to dinner and draped it on the chair Lisa had in the living room. The two settled on the couch and Rick pulled Lisa closer to him and started to softly kiss her starting from her lips, to her ear, and down to her collarbone. Lisa encouraged him and returned his soft kisses tracing kisses along his jawline. Rick pulled Lisa onto his lap to get closer to her and ran his hand up her outer leg and under her skirt. Lisa not expecting that clamped her thighs together and tensed up a bit. Rick not expecting such a reaction from her, paused in his explorations and looked at her curiously. Lisa blushed under his scrutiny and said softly, "Rick before we continue, I have to tell you something." Rick inwardly groaned, he didn't like it when Lisa had to tell him something and wondered why it had to be now. Lisa sensing his withdrawal from her calmed him down by whispering, "Shh love, its nothing like that, it's something I should have told you earlier but it never seemed the right time" Lisa placed a soft kiss on his mouth and kissed her way back up to his ear and whispered, "Please be gentle with me, I've never..." Rick hearing those words whispered in his ear, tightened his hold on Lisa's waist. He couldn't believe that Lisa was still a virgin and wanted to ask questions but decided that those could wait for another time. Another more primal part of him, relished in the words she whispered and caused his nether region to harden in anticipation. Not that it mattered to him whether she was experienced or not in the areas of love, but knowing that he was going to be the first to introduce her to those pleasures gave him a high that flying never did.

Rick pulled Lisa deeper into is embrace and as he kissed her, he pressed her body to his. He rubbed circles on her back and whispered back to her, "I love you, Lisa and I'll be sure to take good care of you." With that Rick let loose the passion that he felt for Lisa. He didn't want to scare her but wanted to make sure she knew how much he wanted and loved her. His long slow kisses drugged Lisa as she gave herself into his kisses. His hands wandered up and down her back slowly pulling up her dress to her waist and finally working it over her body and over her head where he tossed it onto chair next to them. Clad in a matching set of bra and panties, Rick couldn't help but to rake his eyes over her. "Do you like what you see?"asked Lisa in a light teasing tone. "Oh yes, you don't know how much." Rick replied as he pushed Lisa into the corner of the couch and started kissing her again. Lisa caught up in his kisses ran her hands up and down Rick's chest and scraped a fingernail against his nipple through his shirt. His moan, excited Lisa and made her bolder.

As they continued to kiss, Lisa undid the buttons to Rick's shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. He freed himself from the shirt and also removed the silky white tee shirt he wore under the shirt. Lisa sucked in her breath as his chest and abs was uncovered for her to explore and taste. She ran her hands over his chest muscles and his shoulders admiring the breadth and strength of the pilot. Her light kisses on his chest and the reverent way that she touched him drove Rick wild and he intensified his attention to her. Rick continued to run his hands up and down Lisa's body as she relaxed under his care. His hands grazing her back, ran across her bra where he unsnapped the garment, Rick pulled the material away from her body and arms, allowing him to gaze on her creamy breasts. His left hand reached out to cup her breast and he ran his thumb over her already hardened nipple. Rick continued to kiss Lisa, slowly dropping kisses from her mouth down to her other breast, where he first rubbed his nose and face against her breast, before kissing it, and then slowly drawing her nipple into his mouth. Lisa arched her back into him as he sucked on the nub, and let out a moan which made Rick smile. He used his tongue to lick her and swirled his tongue over her breast. Not wanting to neglect her other breast, he moved his head to pay it the same attention. As he kissed and suckled on her, Rick whispered to her about his need for her. "God Lisa, you don't know how much I have thought about this... how much I have fantasized about touching and kissing you like this... everything about you is so beautiful." With that he leaned up to kiss her again on the mouth and then returned to kiss and play with her breasts with his hands and his mouth. Lisa lost in the feelings Rick evoked in her body, found herself moaning and pushing herself into his hands. Not content to be passive participant, she ran her unclad leg against his still clothed lower limbs and reached down with her hands to caress the hardness that she felt pressing against her thigh. His excited groans and his grinding against Lisa's hands encouraged her and she ran her hand against his length and squeezed him repeatedly. Rick wanting to feel more, removed his hands from Lisa's body to unbuckle his belt and Lisa helped to unbutton and unzip his pants. She pushed his pants off his waist leaving him in his boxers and Rick kicked his pants off. Lisa giggled at the undignified way that he removed his pants and Rick grinned back at her, excited to get back to their activity.

Lisa took the initiative and pushed Rick back on the couch and started to kiss his chest and nipples as he did with her. Rick couldn't keep his eyes off of her as he continued to touch whatever part of her body was easily available. Lisa continued to kiss his chest and continued her kisses down towards his stomach. As she circled her tongue around his belly button, she felt his hardened member jump as she kisses got closer to the waistband of his boxer shorts. Lisa started to move down and pull his boxers down when Rick pulled her back up towards him as he wanted this first time to be more about her then him. Lisa pouted a bit and tilted her head to look at him in question. Rick responded to her unasked question a little shakily, "Next time baby..I don't think that I would be able to last if you did that." and pulled her on top of him to give her another kiss. Lisa straddled him and rubbed her body against his as they kissed. Rick slowly starting to lose control, grabbed her by the arms and pushed her back a bit. "I think we should take this into the other room." Lisa whispered an agreement and Rick picking Lisa up carried her into her room to finish what they had started.

The lights were low in her room and Rick lay Lisa on the edge of the bed. She scooted up towards the headboard tossing the small decorative pillows off the bed as she went, not taking her eyes off Rick's face. Rick who still had his boxers on, grabbed one of Lisa's ankles and pulled her back down a bit on the bed. She laughed as he fell upon her trapping her against the bed with his body. Lisa loved the feel of his weight on her and hugged him to her as hard as she could. Rick rolled to one side and started to kiss and touch her again, rubbing his hands up and down her arms, back and butt, all the while kissing her. Slowly his hand started to rub up and down against her hip and her thighs and Lisa parted her legs a bit to allow him to cup her mound with his hand. She loved the heat from his hand on her and opened her legs wider as he used his fingers to rub her silky underwear against her while putting pressure against her labia. Lisa moaned in his mouth and Rick continued to rub her harder. He could feel her wetness drenching the cotton lining of her panties making her silky panties wet. He slipped his hand underneath her panties and using her own body's slickness, slid a finger into her. He could feel her clinch her muscles against his finger, not used to the intrusion. Rick continued to slide his finger in and out of her until Lisa relaxed a bit and then introduced a second finger into her stretching her a bit before they moved forward. Wanting to give Lisa a full experience, he slowly started kissing and licking her body with his tongue. As he worked his way down, he gently slid his fingers out of her wetness and pulled her panties down and off of her, revealing her most intimate parts to him. Lisa watching him, and the way he looked at her, felt beautiful and spread her legs wider. Rick, responding to her invitation, lowered his head and with his fingers, spread her labia and licked the inner folds of Lisa's body. He found her clitoris hidden under the folds and gently licked and sucked on it as she moaned and writhed on the bed. He was rewarded with Lisa's body responding with an increasing wetness and cries coming from her that he never heard from her before. Sensing that Lisa was nearing her climax and not being able to take much more himself, Rick tongued her one last time before working his way back up her body. Lisa catching her breath, looked Rick in his eyes and kissed him deeply, tasting herself on his lips. She reached down between their bodies and grasped his engorged member and rubbed it against her opening while stroking him up and down. He didn't know how she knew to do this and planned to ask her later, but for now he just wanted to focus on pleasing Lisa. He pulled her hands up and locking his hands with hers, held them down next to her head and using his legs and hips nudged Lisa into place. He looked deep into her eyes and kissed her again as he slowly pushed his way into her. Lisa saw his eyes darken with pleasure as he entered her and was embraced by her warm sheath, Lisa noted with satisfaction that his breathing became more shallow. Rick held himself still while Lisa's body adjusted to his intrusion and after a few moments, he pulled out a bit and slid back in. He groaned as he entered her body the second time and started pushing into her with short shallow thrusts. Lisa started to relax and enjoy the sensations Rick was producing in her, spread her legs a bit wider to ease his entrance. Rick feeling her relax, continued to kiss her and continued with his slow thrusts until he felt her passage became increasing slick further easing his way. "Lisa," he moaned. "I can't hold on much longer, it might hurt a bit okay, but I promise I will make it up to you."

Lisa nodded and Rick kissed Lisa, used his leg to open her a bit wider and with a final quick thrust broke through the final thin barrier, embedding himself to the hilt in her body. He moaned in pleasure and held himself still for a few moments relishing the feel of her. Lisa, gasped at the initial pain, but slowly adjusting to the new sensations and fullness, scooted down a bit in the bed to wrap a leg around Rick's hips, moving Rick deeper inside her. Her movement brought another moan to his lips and Rick took that as an invitation to start moving inside her. He started slowly at first and increased his pace as Lisa started to respond to his thrusts with thrusts of her own. Her small cries and moans of pleasure excited him. Rick hoped that he was going to be able to bring her to orgasm and tried to keep his thoughts focused in order not to reach his release too soon. As Lisa started to grind herself against him, Rick realized that she was going to hit her peak and with a final thrust, Lisa shattered and cried out. Rick not able to take much more himself, made a few more rapid thrusts before reaching his own climax, pushed himself in her deep as he came. They were both breathing heavily as Rick pulled Lisa into his arms and pulled the edge of the blanket over the two of them. He didn't want her to get cold as the sweat from their bodies cooled. He looked down at her in his arms and asked her quietly, if she was okay. Lisa just kissed Rick on the lips and snuggled closer to his body as his member slipped from her sheath. They both closed their eyes and enjoyed the warmth and comfort of one another and the loving that they just shared. The two slept for a while enjoying the feel of each other. It wasn't long before Rick's body began to show signs of recovering from their loving and Lisa eager to continue her education, found themselves engaging in another round of lovemaking before falling asleep for the night.

Rick woke up first, smiling as he looked over and saw Lisa laying on her tummy, facing him and clutching her pillow. Sunlight from the window streamed in bathing Lisa in its light forming a warm glow around her. Her hair normally so neat, was a messy halo around her head. He silently laughed seeing her looking so mussed, but also thought she had never looked more beautiful. He wished that he could capture the image on his phone, but was content with keeping the memory of this first morning in his head. He continued to watch her sleep, feeling more content than he had ever in his life. He re-enacted in his head his favorite memories from the night before and was happy that the final barriers between the two of them were finally down. He also knew that what they had shared together last night wasn't enough for him, that while the lovemaking was indescribable, he wanted so much more with her and the closeness and love that he felt for her overwhelmed him. He lay his head close to hers, content to watch her sleep.

Lisa, sensing that Rick was watching her, slowly opened her eyes to be greeted with Rick's dark blue eyes. She blushed under his close scrutiny and snuggled close to him as he pulled her into his body with his arm. "Good morning" he said planting a kiss on her forehead. "Mmmm," said Lisa, "Good morning to you too." They two lay their quietly enjoying each others' company and knew this was a day they would remember for the rest of their lives. They spent the morning in bed talking and making love and it wasn't until mid-afternoon that they stepped out of Lisa's house to get a change of clothes at Rick's home. As Rick was changing into a clean set of clothes, he wondered how he was going to stand being separated from her that night and was about to ask if he could spend the night at her place, when Lisa admitted that she didn't want the weekend to end and that if he wanted, he could spend the night at her place and on Sunday go to the base and their shifts together. Rick happy with the solution, packed a backpack with extra clothes and toiletries and the two returned to Lisa's home to spend a night in watching old movies, eating takeout and just falling deeper in love with one another.


	19. Chapter 19

The autumn months passed quickly for the two lovers and both found much satisfaction in their new relationship. While Rick hadn't totally moved into Lisa's place, he was there much more often than at his own place, using his own place mostly as a place to sleep when he had an early patrol or using it as a place where him and Max could hang out and play video games or have an occasional poker night with the guys. Professionally things were going well also, with the capture of a Robotech satellite factory by the team where Rick and Lisa happily demonstrated a "kiss" to the Zentraedis on the satellite. There were some tense moments as well that put the new couple to test especially when Lisa and Rick were teamed up to save Minmei and Lynn Kyle from Khyron. Minmei, after being rescued by Rick and realizing what he meant to her, had tried to hug Rick after he had saved her. Lisa who had been watching the scene from the runway as she had to take Minmei and Kyle in for debriefing, had felt an moment of panic as she saw the young singer hug Rick. Rick knowing how uncomfortable the situation must have been for Lisa, quickly excused himself saying that he had to get back in the air to pursue Khyron. That night after he returned from a fruitless and frustrating search for Khyron, Rick found Lisa waiting for him in the hanger as she had on many other nights he had late patrols. Concerned about her reaction to Minmei's display of affection, he was surprised when Lisa made no mention of the incident and instead greeted him with joy at his safe return. He clutched Lisa to his body as she hugged him and the two ended up expressing their love in the small office Rick had at the hanger.

The days got colder as they headed into late December and Rick hadn't been home to his own place in over two weeks. It was Christmas Eve and Rick wanted to pick something up from his place before returning to Lisa's home to plan his surprise. He found what he was looking for and was about to leave when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it and was surprised to see Minmei standing there. "Rick, can I come in?"she asked. "Minmei, of course, come in, it's just, well, it's just a surprise to see you that's all." stammered Rick. Minmei sat on his couch looking cold and miserable. "Can I get you some hot tea or something?" asked Rick. Minmei still numb, just nodded her head. She didn't know where else to turn to and Rick was the only one that she could think of. Rick quickly prepared some hot tea for her and gave her an old sweatshirt he had to replace her damp coat. He sat down next to her and asked her what was wrong and he listened to her as she poured out her heart to him about her unhappiness and wanting to escape for the time being and remove herself from the public eye. Rick felt bad for her and wished he could stay and listen to her but he also knew that he needed to go and meet Lisa soon. As Minmei rambled on about her current state of affairs, Rick surreptitiously looked at the time noting that it was getting later and later. So engrossed was he at looking at the time, he missed her question. "Please let me stay! I won't get in the way, I don't know who else to turn to."cried Minmei. Startled by her plea and not thinking of the consequences, Rick tells her, "Well, I guess it's all right, if you're sure you really want to." Minmei happy that Rick is willing to take her in and hoping to regain his love and trust hugs him unexpectedly. They both miss the soft click of the front door closing.

Lisa who had gotten off her shift and decided to walk home, was puzzled when she saw the lights and door slightly open when she reached Rick's home on her way to her place. She decided to investigate and had been about to open the door, when she overheard Minmei's request to stay and Rick's subsequent approval. Shocked at what she overheard, Lisa runs from Rick's house with tears in her eyes.

Rick realizing what he had just agreed to extracted himself from Minmei's hug. "Minmei, I need to be clear with you about something." he said. Minmei wanting to please Rick, looked up at him with her winning smile and said sweetly, "Yes, what is it Rick?" Rick sorry to have to hurt Minmei when she was down, just said, "It's ok if you stay here, but I'm not going to be here with you."

"What? I don't understand Rick, where will you go, why would you leave, we can be together like you always wanted. I thought you loved me."cried Minmei. Rick not willing to take more time to deal with the situation, said to her bluntly, "Minmei, that was a long time ago and things are different now. I'm with Lisa now and have been for months and she means everything to me. I love her. You can stay here if you want if you have no other place to go, but I need to get home, to Lisa... I hope you understand and maybe one day we can be friends again, but this isn't a good time for me. There's some food in the pantry and the bed is made up with clean sheets. Stay here as long as you need to and I'll let the MP know that you are here. I'm really sorry and hope you feel better soon." Not waiting for a response from her, Rick grabbed his own uniform coat, pulled it on and ran out the door, leaving Minmei dazed and confused on the couch unsure of what to do next.

Rick rushed to Lisa's home, hoping that there would be still time to start dinner. He had planned to cook Christmas Eve dinner for the two of them and had purchased some Christmas decorations that he wanted to put up. He ran rest of the way home, relieved to find that Lisa was not yet home. He quickly changed and washed up and then ran to the kitchen to start dinner. Once everything was cooking, he decorated the dining room table with a white tablecloth, candles and hung some mistletoe over the table. He wondered where Lisa was as he had already returned home late and called the base to find out that she had left over an hour and a half ago. Concerned, he called her mobile phone, confused as to why it repeatedly went to her voicemail. Rick started to panic thinking that she may have been hurt on the way home, turned the stove off and left the oven on low, and ran out of the house looking for her. Searching through the streets of the military housing and getting closer to the base, Rick decided to call Claudia to see if she knew where Lisa was as he was very worried for her. Claudia answered the phone and did not seem to be surprised that Rick was calling her. "What did you do to her, you jackass?" whispered Claudia fiercely into the phone. Rick, who could hear crying in the background, asked, "Is that her? Is she with you? Is she okay?"

"No she's not okay, Rick Hunter, what the hell were you thinking allowing that girl to stay at your house." yelled Claudia.

"Wait, what, how did you already know," Rick realizing that Minmei's visit was already know and that Lisa had interpreted it to mean something else. "You've got it all wrong, I'm coming over." Rick ran as fast as he could to Claudia's house, hoping that his naivety did not destroyed everything he had with Lisa. Out of breath, he ran up to Claudia's porch and banged on the door. He could hear Lisa arguing with Claudia not to let him in and that she didn't want to see him. Frustrated with the situation he had gotten himself into he banged on the door harder, calling her name. "Lisa, please, just let me in, please just talk to me, it's not what you think." Not getting any response, Rick tried to appeal to Claudia, "Claudia, please, just get her to talk to me, you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt her, please I just need to see her, to talk to her, I promise it's exactly like we talked about." Rick continued to bang on the door and almost fell in when Claudia jerked it open. "I don't know how you managed to screw this up flyboy, but Lisa is miserable in there, crying her eyes out and I do not like to see my friend this way. You better fix it or I will make your life a living hell." Claudia stalked away from the door and let Rick in. Rick could finally see Lisa on the couch, crying and wiping the tears off her face. Her nose was red and her eyes were sore from crying. She got up from where she had been sitting and moved away from Rick. "Go away Rick, I don't want to see you... I don't want to know about it, just get the hell out of my life."

"No, Lisa, it's not what you think at all." Rick knew that if he didn't fix this immediately, he could possibly lose Lisa forever, and didn't think he could take that. "Please, please, please just listen to me. I swear its not what you think" Claudia giving Rick the benefit of the doubt, saw the fear on his face and stood next to Lisa and put her arm around her. "Lisa, honey, just listen to him ok." With the support of her friend, Lisa took a shaky breath and looked at Rick and nodded her head. Rick started to recount what had happened that afternoon at his home and how he hadn't really paid attention to what Minmei had been saying or asking as he had been preoccupied with other matters. "By the time I knew what I was saying, I had agreed to let her stay. I knew immediately I screwed up Lisa...and I told her. I told her, that I loved you and that I had to get home... to you." Lisa wanting to believe Rick's story and wanting to forgive him asked, "What was so important that you had to go home for Rick?"

Rick grinned and hope this meant that she forgave him. He took a few steps closer to where Lisa and Claudia were standing and pulled a small black box out of his pants pocket. He knelt in front of her and Lisa realizing what Rick was planning to do, brought her hand up to her mouth in surprise. "This is what I had to get Lisa... Will you marry me?" Lisa was stunned by Rick's proposal and didn't know what to say. It had been unexpected especially after the last two hours of pain and uncertainty that she had felt. Rick ignoring the fact that Lisa hadn't answered yet, removed the ring from the box and took her left hand in his. "This wasn't the way I planned it, but I hope that you will make me the happiest man in the universe and say, Yes." With that he gently pushed the ring onto her finger and stood up to embrace the woman he loved. Lisa still in shock just hugged Rick tightly and returned his embrace. Rick whispered in her ear, "There is absolutely no one else in the world for me and I want everyone to know that you're mine and that we are together. Lisa, please say you'll marry me.." Lisa pulled back to look at Rick and shed a few more tears. "Shhh, shhh don't cry anymore, I am so sorry for screwing this up, it was supposed to be perfect." he said cuddling her to his chest.

Lisa finally gaining her composure looked at the man in front of her and saw the love shining from his eyes. She took another shaky breath and said, "Yes, Rick, yes I will marry you!"

Rick grabbed and hugged her tight, not wanting to let her go. He let her go when Claudia hugged them both and congratulated them on their engagement. Lisa and Rick stayed a few more minutes to share a drink with Claudia to celebrate the engagement. They returned home shortly after to share the candlelit dinner that Rick had prepared.

That night the two sat on the couch, admiring the ring that adorned her finger. Rick told her how he had scoured the town even venturing into Monument City to find the right ring for her and had been pleased when he finally found one that was fit to grace her hand. It was a 1 ct. cushion cut diamond surrounded in a halo by smaller diamonds set in a lacy white gold band. The style was elegant with an antique feel and suited Lisa very well and Lisa couldn't help but admire the ring and showed Rick how much she loved him that night.


	20. Chapter 20

Christmas Day dawned cold and clear and Lisa and Rick spent the morning getting ready to got to Max and Miriya's house to celebrate. Lisa couldn't wait to announce their engagement to their friends but the day was ruined when Khryon attacked the city by surprise and stealing a Protoculture cell. Rick and the other squads tried to stop him but had to stop pursuit when the bombs Khyron had planted over the city went off killing and injuring hundreds of people that day. The RDF spent the day putting out fires and helping the civilians in affected areas find shelter that cold Christmas Day. It was late when Rick returned home to Lisa. She had also just gotten off from a long day on the bridge and the two cobbled something quick for dinner and spent the rest of the night just holding each other through the night, happy that the other one was safe. The Christmas Day celebration was delayed until New Year's Eve, where Rick, Lisa, Max, Miriya, Claudia, Sammie, Vanessa, Kim and Admiral Gloval celebrated in a low key fashion. While Khyron's attack had caused much damage, the engagement of Rick and Lisa brought joy to the small group.

The next two weeks were spent on plans to locate and destroy Khyron, they knew that whatever plans he had for the Protoculture cell were not good and that they needed to find him quickly. Unfortunately, Khryon came to them instead of them finding him. In his madness to finish off the SDF-1 before attempting to head back to Tirol to find the Robotech Masters, he attacks the newly finished SDF-2 and SDF-1. Rick and Lisa had been on their way to the base that morning during the attack and Rick had rushed Lisa to the bridge, knowing that they had to do what they could to stop Khyron. His heart burst when he saw the SDF-2 take a direct hit knowing his love and friends were on the ship. Not able to reach Lisa on the TacNet, Rick focused his attacks on Khyron's battleship hoping to take it down before more damage is done to the listing ship and that Lisa is able to survive the attack.

Rick's hope is restored when he sees the SDF-1 rising from the lake and finally hears Lisa on the TacNet, "Rick, we're preparing to fire the main gun ... so I strongly suggest you get your afterburners out of there!" Rick and the rest of the squads quickly fly out of harms way as the main guns fire and hits Khyron's cruiser. Unfortunately, the ship is not destroyed and it's evident the Khyron plans to ram his cruiser into the SDF-1. Rick continuing to monitor the conversation on the TacNet, hears Lisa's call to her bridge mates "Brace for impact!" Horrified, Rick watches as the Zentraedi cruiser smashes into the SDF-1 and Rick cries out for Lisa over the TacNet, knowing that all maybe lost.

On the bridge of the SDF-1, after the initial impact, the crew is thrown to the ground. The room is filling with smoke as fire starts to consume the bridge. The lower levels of the ship where the cruiser hit were slowly coming apart where the heat from the impact melted support beams and the floor starts to list as the beams give way. Lisa comes to while Admiral Gloval and Claudia are shoving her into a escape pod. "No, no, what about you, you have to come too..." No more is said as they pod door closes and Lisa is forcibly ejected from the bridge. Unable to see out of the pod she prays for her friends and loses consciousness again when the pod hits the water, it's chute deploying a bit too late to slow the impact of the pod.

Lisa awoke with a quick gasp and heard someone say, "She's awake, go get Rick.." Head pounding she turned her eyes away from the bright window to see where she was and said weakly, "where am I?" Miriya, who had been watching over Lisa while Rick took a short nap, approached the bed happy to see her friend awake and said, "Lisa, you're in the hospital...you're going to be ok.." Lisa trying to pull herself up into a sitting position, is helped by Miriya who also rings for the nurse. "And the others?" Lisa asked fearing the worse. Miriya smiled, "They made it out too... a little banged up and bruised like you, but they all made it out alive." Lisa cried tears of joy as she heard the news and was in that state when Rick entered the room. Concerned, he ran over to Lisa's bed, sat down and pulled her into his arms.. "Shush love, it's ok, what's wrong, does it hurt somewhere?" Lisa just shook her head no and buried her head in Rick's neck. "I'm just happy that they are all ok.." she whispered. Rick still holding Lisa in his arms, just said "Me too, me too."

While the bridge crew did survive, they did not come out unscathed. Admiral Gloval, along with Claudia had used the few remaining minutes to help get Sammie, Vanessa and Kim into their pods before the bridge was fully consumed by the flames. Vanessa and Kim suffered from second and third degree burns and Sammie had broken a couple of ribs when a metal piece of sheeting had fallen on her during the bridge collapse. Admiral Gloval had forced Claudia into the final fully operational pod before getting into the last pod of unknown status. That final pod while saving his life was not fully functioning due to the damage to the ship and did not eject the pod clear enough away from the ship. Shrapnel from the continued explosions of the ships, penetrated the pod, and some of the shrapnel became lodged in his back, spine and legs causing permanent paralysis. Admiral Gloval would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life but considered it a small price to pay for the safety of his family.

Lisa's pod which had been ejected first, was difficult to recover from the lake as flaming debris rained down on it. When the pod had floated further away from the dying ships, rescue workers had been able to pull the pod to safety and pull Lisa out. Unconscious, bloody and bruised, they had rushed Lisa to the hospital and was stabilized before they were able to call Capt. Hunter about the status of his fiancee.

Rick still in shock from the destruction and loss of of his love and his friends, landed his Veritech near the lake, got out and cried for his loss. It was Max who pulled Rick from the cold ground and helped him into a jeep and stayed with a mourning Rick until they received a call from the hospital that Lisa was safe. Those few hours that Rick believed the Lisa had died were the worst moments of his life and he hoped never to feel that way again.


	21. Chapter 21 - Epilogue

It had been nine years since the last battle with Kyron and and the destruction of the SDF-1 and SDF-2. Rick and Lisa had married 8 years earlier, having two children, 5 year old Roy "Ryu" and 3 year old Grace "Hikari". Their Japanese nicknames given to them by Takuya and Ayumi during a visit by them two years ago.

Rick watched as Roy raced around the room with a model airplane in hand while little Grace followed her big brother around wanting a chance with the plane too. One of happiest days of his life was the day they put Roy in his arms. With his shocking head of black hair and blue eyes, he was a miniature of Rick except when he got that stubborn look on his face that was totally his mother's look. Roy was much more like Lisa than Rick in many ways, smart, mature and responsible as any 5 year old could be and fiercely protective of his younger sister. Roy however, was just as enamored of planes and flying as Rick had been at that age and wanted to be a pilot like his dad when he grew up. Rick turned to observe his little Grace, so like her mother in looks but more carefree like him. He knew that she was going to be handful when she grew up, especially as she had all signs of being as beautiful as her mother. The same pale clear skin, emerald green eyes and hair like golden wheat. Rick was glad that Roy would be around to keep an eye out for her.

"What are you doing? We don't have that much time," asked Lisa, stopping to give her husband a kiss on the cheek. Rick pulled Lisa into his arms and they stood for a minute observing the two children. They smiled to see the children playing so happily in their new quarters on the SDF-3. "Come finish getting dressed we have to go." she said to Rick as she took the children by the hand to finish preparing them for the ceremony.

It was the launch day of the SDF-3 and many people had come to celebrate. There was no fear of another enemy invasion as warning systems have been installed far out into space that would warn them of any spacial activity and an armada of ships was waiting in space for the SDF-3 to join them in for their journey to find the home of the Robotech Masters . The mission had been expanded to also and include the search for hospitable planets that could be colonized by the inhabitants of Earth. The ceremony was about to start in an hour and Lisa and Rick were needed to greet the crowd and present opening remarks.

Lisa looked in the mirror one last time, checking her uniform. "You look beautiful Admiral,"said Rick as has he hugged Lisa from behind. Lisa had been made Admiral of the REF, after Admiral Gloval's death 4 years ago from the injuries he sustained on the SDF-1 so long ago. She was the natural choice to lead the expedition and carry forth Gloval's legacy and her and Rick were considered to be two of the most influential military figures of their times. Lisa turned and smiled at Rick, "You don't look too bad yourself Major General" as she kissed him on the lips. Rick smiled and said, "I have something for you."

"What is it?"

"Close your eyes and turn around." commanded Rick. Lisa did as she was asked and felt Rick place something around her neck. "You can open them now." Lisa looked in the mirror and tears formed in her eyes. "Oh Rick," she said as she stared at the pendent Rick had placed around her neck. It was a pendant just like he had given her so many years ago except this time instead of enamel and stainless steel, the sakura shaped pendent was made from pink sapphires, set in white gold, hanging from a thin white gold chain. Rick knew how much Lisa loved her original pendant and had stopped wearing it when it started to show signs of wear. He had been thinking of the perfect present to celebrate their new journey together and thought that this was the perfect piece to tie their past, present and future together. That night as the ship finally lifted off and headed into deep space, Lisa showed Rick her appreciation for his gift and ten months later on the SDF-3, Chloe Sakura Hunter was born.

~Finis

I hope you enjoyed my story and want to thank Drew Michaels and AHRG for their reviews and continued encouragement. A big thank you to all that followed the story to the end.


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